Coming out of the Darhk
by Mythica1138
Summary: Oliver deals with the aftermath of Felicity's shooting and dealing with Damien Darhk.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sounds were overwhelming. People talking. Machines beeping. All he could do was keep out of the way. He couldn't leave her. He had to make sure she was going to live. He had to be there no matter what.

He didn't even register when they had arrived at the hospital. He just followed everyone else when they pulled her out of the ambulance. She looked too quiet, with everyone else being so loud around her. He just wanted to hear her voice again. She was always so… alive.

He followed the paramedics in through the Emergency entrance and kept going when they brought her to the exam rooms. He was trying to stay out of the way, but people kept bumping into him. They were asking him questions, but he didn't know if he was responding. All he could think about was her.

"Mr. Queen…"

He felt someone touching his arm, but he couldn't pull his attention away from her. When he heard the heart monitor start to sound a constant long beep, he felt his heart clench in his chest.

"No…" He wanted to go to her, but the movement around her had become more frantic. He took one step forward, but found his motion halted by the hand still on his arm.

"Mr. Queen, you need to let them work."

He could feel himself being pulled backwards as he watched the doctors shock his fiancé, trying to get her heart to start again. Once he realized he was moving, and in the direction he didn't want to go, he stopped walking and just waited.

"Please… no…"

"Mr. Queen, you really shouldn't be here."

"I can't… I can't…"

He didn't finish his thought as the sound of the heart monitor changed to a more normal heart rhythm, the intermittent beeping making his heart loosen slightly.

Everyone in the room seemed to relax a little once her heart started to beat again. They were still frantically working on her, but at least they could now focus on her injuries.

"Mr. Queen…" Oliver finally looked at the woman who had been gripping his arm for the past few minutes. She had kind eyes, full of understanding and sympathy. "You need to let them do their job. She's in good hands."

Oliver nodded slightly before once again looking at the scene in front of him. Relaxing a little, he allowed the nurse to lead him out of the area and into the emergency waiting area. Once she had led him to a chair and he sat down, she gently touched his shoulder and turned to head back from where they had come. Oliver just rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. How could this have happened?

* * *

"Oliver?!"

Oliver lifted his head when he heard Donna's voice. He could see her running towards him with her arms outstretched. Getting up from his chair, he allowed her to wrap him in her arms as she sobbed on his chest. He had no idea what to say so he just held her and let her cry, trying desperately to hold his own emotions in check.

"We heard what happened." The sound of his sister's voice brought his attention back to the entrance as he saw Thea and John walking over to him.

"I guess Darhk decided to use the direct approach," John offered, worry clear on his face.

Oliver's grip on Donna tightened slightly when John said Darhk's name. Thea could see the tension on his face as she walked over and touched his arm. His face relaxed slightly as he pulled one arm off of Donna and wrapped it around his younger sister. Kissing her on the head, he just held them, using their support to shore up his resolve.

"How is she?" Donna finally managed to ask as she pulled back to look up at him.

"I don't know," he replied softly. "I think I heard them saying something about surgery."

"So… she's… alive," Thea offered, saying it slowly enough to not cause any more pain on her brother's face.

Oliver just nodded as Donna and Thea broke from his grasp and they all sat down. Thea still held Oliver's hand as he ran his other over his face. It was only when he was seated that John noticed the amount of blood on Oliver's suit. She was lucky to be alive if all of that was from her.

"Lance and Laurel are going over the scene," John offered, receiving a small nod from Oliver. "There was no sign of them by the time they got there, but they're hoping to find something to help them find out where to look next."

"There won't be anything," Oliver said softly. "They don't leave evidence."

"Don't worry," John reassured him. "We'll find them."

Oliver looked up at him with anger in his eyes. Darhk crossed the line this time. It was time for him to pay.

* * *

Oliver couldn't stay at the hospital any longer. He had to get out there and find Darhk. Once they had heard that Felicity was heading to surgery, he knew it would be a while before they knew anything more. Lance and Laurel had come to the hospital once their investigation of the crime scene had been completed. Knowing Lance would be there to watch over Donna and send him any updates on Felicity's condition, he, John, Laurel, and Thea went back to the lair to get ready to find Darhk.

"There has to be something," Oliver said with a sigh as he watched John pull up the traffic cameras from where the altercation had taken place.

"Laurel went through these before she came to the hospital," John explained. "They tracked them for a few miles, but then they went into an area without cameras."

"There has to be something!" Oliver yelled, slamming his hands on the desk, making Thea jump behind him.

"Hey!" Thea scolded, walking over to put her hand on his brother's back. "We're going to find them."

"How?" he asked harshly. "The only person who could have found them is fighting for her life!"

"Well, how did you find people before Felicity joined the team?" Thea asked.

"She's right," John agreed. "This is about surveillance, getting out on the street, finding out what people have seen. The entire city has heard what happened and everyone is outraged. You wanted them to be united against the darkness. Well, I think you got your wish."

Oliver sighed has he leaned heavily on the desk. Her desk. She should be there, helping them find the ghosts, not laying in a hospital, fighting to survive.

"Ok," he said softly, before getting back to his feet. "Ok. We'll fan out from where we lost contact with the vehicles. Someone had to have seen which way they went."

As Oliver cross to pick up his bow, he could hear John come up behind him. "You going to be ok out there?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Digg, I have to do something," he replied. "If I just sit around, my mind will just keep going where I don't want it to go."

"I understand that," John acknowledged. "I just want to make sure that if we find these guys you remember what we're trying to do. We need information, Oliver. I know you want to beat the crap out of them and so do I, but we need to find Darhk."

"I know," Oliver replied, seeing the concern in his friend's eyes. "This isn't about the ghosts. This is about Darhk and when I find him… I'm going to kill him."

* * *

Thea and John had been right. Going out and talking to the people on the street had proven to be very helpful. Everyone had heard about what had happened to Oliver Queen's fiancé and they wanted to help catch the men responsible. He didn't realize how much of an effect his candidacy had had on the city. They had seen he was trying to make things better and they wanted to help.

The team had managed to track the vehicles to a warehouse on the docks. Once they were all back together, they surveyed the area, looking for any signs of ghost activity.

"It looks pretty quiet," John offered as the peered down from the top of an adjacent building.

"Are you sure this is even going to work?" Laurel asked. "Our experience getting information out of the ghosts isn't very encouraging."

"Someone will talk," Oliver said confidently. "Or I'll make them."

Laurel just looked with concern at Thea before they saw movement behind one of the warehouse windows.

"Someone's in there," Oliver noted as he got up a readied a zipline arrow in his bow.

"Oliver wait -" was all John was able to get out before the arrow flew and impaled itself just above the window in question. Before anyone could react, he was sliding down the line, heading right for the window. The sound of glass shattering was all that was needed to cause even more ghosts to converge on the location.

"He's going to get himself killed," Laurel observed, grabbing the line to follow him down as gunshots rang out.

"And us too," Thea supplied as she followed Laurel down.

John just shook his head as he followed the women down the line and into the warehouse. When he landed, he caught sight of Oliver fighting two ghosts, Thea wrapping her legs around a third and bringing him down, and Laurel taking out another. When he saw more ghost appearing, he brought out his glock and started shooting taking care not to use any kill shots. They needed information and a dead ghost can't give them that.

The battle continued until all of the ghosts were down, either unconscious or dead by their own making, having broken their cyanide capsules in their mouths. Thea looked around at bodies on the ground before turning to her brother. She had seen how he had been fighting against the ghosts. She had never seen such ferocity in him before. She knew that he knew that they needed the ghosts alive, but alive doesn't necessarily mean able to move.

"WHERE IS DARHK!" he yelled, holding one of the ghosts by the collar and shaking him violently. Blood was coming from the ghost's mouth where Oliver had ripped the cyanide tooth from his mouth. He wasn't going to let him off that easily.

The ghost just laughed, showing the blood on his teeth.

"WHERE IS HE!" This time Oliver raised his fist above him, trying with all his might to not pound the life out of the man laughing beneath him.

One more laugh out of him made Oliver lose it as he started pounding on his face, shouting as he hit him. "WHERE IS HE!"

As the man lost consciousness, Oliver continued to hit him until Thea came over and grabbed his arm. She wasn't strong enough to make him stop, but her presence alone caused him to pause.

"Stop!" she ordered. "You need to stop! Felicity wouldn't want you to kill him!"

The sound of her name made Oliver stop and look at his sister. He could see the concern in her eyes as she begged him to let the man go.

"They aren't going to tell us anything," she continued, still holding Oliver's arm. "They're willing to die for him. This isn't going to work."

Oliver looked down at the unconscious man still held in his grip. Releasing his hold, he let the man fall to the concrete before standing upright. Thea let go of his arm and gently patted his chest.

He knew Thea was right. Every time they've tried questioning the ghosts, they've gotten no where. At least he got some satisfaction with beating the crap out of the men who hurt Felicity. It was a start.

* * *

"Going after the ghosts is pointless," Laurel declared as they walked back into the lair.

"But they're the only connection we have to Darhk," Thea explained. "How else are we going to find him?"

Oliver let out what could best be described as a growl as he slammed his bow on the metal table. The others knew he was frustrated, but there wasn't much they could do if the ghosts didn't talk.

"What if we go at this a different way?" suggested John. "We can talk to A.R.G.U.S.-"

"No," Oliver interrupted. "Favors from A.R.G.U.S. always come with a price and I'm not going to have anyone on this team owing Amanda Waller anything. We'll figure this out ourselves."

"We don't seem to be having any luck doing it by ourselves, Oliver," John reminded him.

Oliver let out a sigh as he turned and walked over to Felicity's desk. Running his hand along the back of his chair, he couldn't help but miss her presence. It didn't feel right not having her there.

He was brought out of his musings when Thea walked over to him, with her phone in her hand. "I got a text from Donna while we were out," she explained. "Felicity is out of surgery."

It didn't take long for Oliver to make his way back to the hospital. As he made his way up to her room, he saw Donna sitting outside, sobbing quietly.

"Donna…"

Upon seeing Oliver, Donna got up and wrapped him into a hug, sobbing into his shirt. "What happened?" he asked, fearing the worst.

Before she could answer, the doctor came out of Felicity's room. Pulling away from Donna, Oliver walked over to him anxiously. "How is she?"

"We were able to remove the bullets," he explained, "but there was significant internal damage and she lost a lot of blood. Her right lung was punctured so she currently is intubated to help her breathe. Another shot shattered her T9 vertebrae and damaged her spinal cord."

Oliver could hear Donna gasp behind him as she slowly walked up and grasped his arm for support.

"We did everything we could," the doctor continued, "but there is only so much modern medicine can fix. She should be able to heal, but… I'm afraid she'll never walk again."

When Donna's sobbing started again, Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, trying to keep his own emotions in check.

"Can we see her?" he asked.

The doctor just nodded as he stepped aside and let Oliver lead Donna into the room. The sight of his love hooked up to so many tubes and wires made his breath catch in his throat. She had a breathing tube down her throat and a bad of blood connected to her arm. The steady sound of the heart monitor beating was the only indication that she was even alive. She looked so pale.

Oliver lead Donna over to a chair that was already next to the bed before dragging another chair to the opposite side. Each one of them took one of her hands and held them gently. Oliver took in a deep breath as he felt her warm skin. Bringing her hand up to his lips, he gently kissed it before holding it next to his face, closing his eyes with a sigh.

"She's strong," Donna told him, as she looked down at her daughter. "She has so much to live for. I know she can get through this."

Oliver nodded slightly as he opened his eyes to look at her again. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should have been able to protect you."

"Oliver Queen, this is not your fault," Donna said forcefully as she looked over at him. "This is that madman Darhk or whatever his name is. You didn't do this!"

"I put her in the line of fire," he explained, never taking his eyes off of Felicity. "I should have never outed him. She wouldn't have been kidnapped. She wouldn't have been…"

Oliver had to stop as he closed his eyes and pushed his face into her hand.

"You did what you thought was right," Donna reassured him. "Felicity understood that and she was willing to risk it to be with the man she loves."

"She doesn't deserve this."

"No," Donna agreed, "but she deserves to be happy and you make her happy. I've never seen her happier in my entire life. She would go through hell and back if he meant being able to be with you. You are how she's going to get through this. She's going to fight tooth and nail to get better because she knows when she does, you'll be here waiting for her."

And he would be waiting for her. He would be there when she woke up. No matter how much he felt responsible for what happened to her, he could never even consider pushing her away again. He was incomplete without her.

* * *

It had been three days since her surgery and every day she had been getting better. In the morning they had come in and removed her breathing tube. Now all she had was a small tube across her face, sending much needed oxygen in through her nose. They had stopped giving her blood, but she was still hooked up to tubes for fluids and medication. She still had not waken, but her color had gotten better. Oliver could see Felicity starting to come back.

It had been a long three days and Oliver was starting to feel his lack of sleep catching up with him. He had refused to leave her side, not wanting to miss when she finally woke up, but his eyes were starting to betray him. As they drooped down farther, he decided it wouldn't hurt to take a quick nap. Leaning his head on her thigh, he closed his eyes, making sure to keep his hand wrapped around hers.

He didn't know how long he had slept, but the feeling of someone gently touching his cheek made him slowly wake up. Blinking away the grogginess, his vision cleared enough for him to realize that his hand was no longer gripping Felicity's because her hand was gently caressing his face. As his eyes came into focus, he looked up and saw a smile on her face as she looked down at him.

"Hi."

Oliver almost fell out of his chair as he quickly sat up and grabbed her hand again. "Hey." He couldn't help the smile of relief that came across his face as he brought her hand up to kiss it. "How are you doing?"

Felicity winced as she tried to move slightly. "I've been better."

Oliver let out a sigh as he just stared at the woman he loves. "You gave us quite a scare."

"Sorry," she replied as she settled back into her bed. "I guess now you know how it feels."

Oliver just scrunched up his face in confusion as she clarified. "Every time you come in with holes in you. Every time I almost lost you."

She was right. He had come back to the lair shot so many times. She had seen him almost die at least twice. Now that he had experienced it with her, he knew exactly what she had gone through.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Just remember that the next time you go off to do something dangerous," she said softly, her voice getting more pained the more she spoke.

"I should get the doctor," Oliver explained, not liking the look on her face.

Getting up from his chair, he reached for the call button and pressed it before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "I love you."

As he pulled back he could see a small smile on her face break through the pain. "I love you."

"Oh my baby!"

Both Oliver and Felicity turned to the door as they saw the doctor come in, closely followed by Donna. Walking over to the bed, Donna reached out and cupped Felicity's face with both hands, a little too tightly for Felicity's liking.

"Mom… a little much."

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," she apologized, bringing her hands back so she could squeeze her daughter's hand. "I'm just so... happy… to see you…"

"I know, Mom."

"How are you feeling?"

This time it was the doctor's words that took over Felicity's attention. "Tired," she explained. "Sore."

The doctor nodded as he scribbled in her chart. "We can adjust your pain medications now that you're awake," he explained. "There's a few other tests we need to do. Your family can wait outside."

Oliver took that as his queue to leave as he kissed Felicity's hand one more time before releasing it and walking over to collect Donna. She didn't look like she would leave on her own, so Oliver took her arm and gently pulled her from the side of the bed.

"Come on, Donna," he told her as she tried to stay near her daughter.

"But… but…"

Oliver just smiled as he looked back at his love. She was giving him an appreciative smile as she gave them a slight wave. Letting out a relieved sigh, he pulled open the door and escorted Donna out to give the doctor a chance to do his work. He was just happy she was going to be ok.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"This is getting us no where," Oliver complained, slamming his bow down on the table. "Every lead we seem to get is a dead end. He couldn't have just vanished."

Oliver was frustrated. It had been six weeks since the attack and Darhk was in the wind. The ghosts seemed to have disappeared and things were extraordinarily quiet. Normally he would be happy for the respite, but not this time. He had to find Darhk and make him pay for what he did to Felicity.

"Maybe he got what he wanted," Thea offered, with a little more venom in her voice than normal. "I mean, he wanted to get you out of the way from being mayor…"

"Thea, you know why I've put things on hold," he explained, picking up his bow and putting it back into its place.

"I know what you've said," she agreed, "but that doesn't mean I agree with it. He did to you what he did to Jessica. He scared you and now he can just sit back and do what he wants to Star City."

"He's not doing anything!" Oliver countered. "Whether I'm mayor or not doesn't seem to matter at the moment because he's not even around!"

"You don't honestly think he's going to just go away," she spat back. "He's biding his time."

"I know," Oliver replied, letting out a sigh. "And right now my time is better spent as the Green Arrow trying to find him instead of being a candidate for mayor."

"You should be doing both!" She was really getting tired of his attitude. "What happened to fighting him in the light?"

"Felicity got shot, that's what happened!"

"All right," John offered, trying to get the siblings to calm down. "That's enough. Let's just keep our heads before someone says something they'll regret later."

Oliver sighed as he looked down at his watch. "I have to go," he explained as he began to take off his jacket.

"Is today the day?" John asked, a sound of excitement in his voice.

Oliver just nodded as he began to walk away. "Felicity is coming home."

* * *

Oliver swung open the door to the loft to a squeal coming from inside. He couldn't help but smile as Donna bounded over to them. Pushing Felicity's wheelchair over the threshold, she was almost knocked over by her own mother as she engulfed her in a hug.

"Welcome home, baby!"

"Thanks, mom," Felicity replied, not nearly as excited as Donna was. When her mother didn't let go, Felicity had to try to pry her off. "Ok, Mom. Need some air."

"Oh… Sorry." Donna stepped back as Oliver pushed the chair farther into the apartment. A sigh came from Felicity as she looked around her home. She had spent four weeks in the hospital and then two more in a rehabilitation center. It was so nice to be back home again, but also sad. Reality hit her pretty hard when she looked at the stairs. Their bedroom was upstairs.

"We've got everything arranged for you," Donna explained. "I know how you like your independence so we setup the bedroom down here with everything you might need. The bathroom…"

Felicity tuned out her mother after a short while, just taking in everything around her. During her six-week recovery she had hoped that she would eventually be able to get feeling back in her legs, but it quickly became apparent that her paralysis was not going to be temporary. She loved living at the loft, but she wasn't so sure how practical that was going to be any more.

Oliver had made his way into the kitchen, saying something about making her something to eat. Her mom was still going on about something or other, but Felicity had long tuned her out. Reaching down to the handrails on her wheels, she pushed herself forward towards the balcony doors. When she reached for the handle, she felt her mother reach in front of her, trying to get there first.

"Let me, sweetie."

"I've got it, Mom," she said sharply, causing Donna to pull her hand back. Felicity paused for a moment before reaching again for the door handle and pulling it open. The door did get stuck on her chair at first, but she managed to move it around so it would swing open. Letting out a sigh, she pushed herself forward until she was on the balcony.

In the kitchen, Oliver had noticed her struggling, but he also knew things like this were what she needed to do. She needed to feel like she could take care of herself, no matter how much he or her mother wanted to help. He would only help her if she asked for it, but he knew she wouldn't ask.

Seeing the helpless look on Donna's face, he walked over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He knew she just wanted to help. It was a mother's instinct to help her children. It was going to be harder for her to let Felicity do things on her own than it would be for him.

As he walked out onto the balcony, he could see Felicity struggle to see over the wall and out into the city. Walking over to her, he put his hands on her shoulders and began to rub gently. He could feel her tension slipping away as she let her head fall back.

"How are you doing?"

"I didn't think it would hit me like this," she revealed.

"What's going on?" he asked as he moved around to squat in front of her.

"This," she explained, gesturing out to the city. "I used to love to come out here and just look out and now… Now I can barely see anything."

"We can change the wall to something transparent," he suggested.

"And what about our bedroom?" she asked, directing her attention back to Oliver. "It's upstairs."

"We've setup the room downstairs," he reminded her.

"But our room is upstairs," she explained. "The guest room is downstairs."

"Well, now our room is downstairs," he told her, reaching out to take her hands. "Or if you want, we can find a new place that doesn't have stairs."

"Oliver, you're missing the point."

"Then why don't you explain it to me."

His voice was so soft and reassuring. She felt like nothing she could say would upset him. "I don't want to find a new place," she told him. "I love our apartment. And I love our room. I hate that we had to change anything just because of me. I hate being such a burden."

"Hey," he stopped her, gripping her hands tightly. "You're not a burden. I love you. I don't care about the apartment. If you want to be upstairs, we'll… well, we'll put in an elevator or something. I'll carry you upstairs every night if you want me to. Hell, we can redesign the whole loft if you want to stay here. I just want you to be happy and I'll do anything to make that happen."

Felicity couldn't help but smile as she reached up to touch his face. "Just being with you makes me happy."

Oliver smiled as he leaned up and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Then you're going to be very happy because I'm not going anywhere."

Felicity smiled even brighter as she reached up and pulled him down into another kiss. She loved him so much that the thought of not being with him scared her more than not being able to walk. Just hearing his reassurance made her feel that much more at ease.

"I guess I should go see what my mother did to that bedroom," she told him as she turned to head back inside. "I don't know if you've noticed, but her style and mine don't exactly jive."

Oliver just laughed as he followed her back inside. It was so nice to have her back.

* * *

Six weeks and nothing. John was getting as frustrated as Oliver at this point. There had been no ghost sightings, no Darhk sightings. Everyone on the team knew this wasn't over and they were all walking on eggshells, trying to anticipate the next move. It wasn't good for morale or anyone's sanity. At least everyone had been able to visit with Felicity. Seeing her always seemed to brighten their day.

He knew he would catch nothing but grief for this, but he was tired of dead ends. Leaning against his car, he checked his watch again. He didn't like just waiting.

"Have somewhere to be, Mr. Diggle?"

John jumped slightly as he turned to see Amanda Waller walking up behind him. "Only here," he told her.

"I must say your message was quite a surprise," she revealed. "I didn't think Oliver Queen wanted anything to do with A.R.G.U.S. after the incident with Slade Wilson."

"Oliver doesn't know I'm here," he explained. "This is between you and me."

"Alright," she said slowly, crossing her arms in front of her. "What can I do for you?"

John took a deep breath before getting started. "I'm sure you know of Damien Darhk."

"Of course," she acknowledged.

"And you know he's been terrorizing Star City for the past few months."

"Yes."

"Well, a couple of months ago, he shot a good friend of mine," John told her. "She almost died."

"I am aware of the situation with Ms. Smoak," she told him.

"Then you're aware that Oliver and I are very determined to try to find him and make him pay for what he's done."

"I fail to see how this is any of my concern."

"We can take him out," John explained. "We can destroy HIVE. We can… help you get rid of this terror organization."

"And what makes you think we need you for that?" she asked smugly.

"Well, if you're trying, you aren't doing a very good job!" he spat, getting annoyed with her cavalier attitude.

"Let me ask you a different question," she countered. "I have heard that you have found your brother."

John looked at her confused. "Yeah. What of it?"

"Have you asked him about Darhk?"

"Of course we have," John replied, getting more and more frustrated as the conversation went on. "They programmed him to be loyal to Darhk. He won't tell us anything."

Amanda smiled slightly as she took a couple of steps towards him. "When you see him next, say these exact words: 'It always rains when I take my dog for a walk.'."

"What?"

Amanda smile bigger before turning and walking back the way she came. "It was nice to see you again, Mr. Diggle."

John had hoped that meeting with Amanda would shed some light on what was going on with Darhk. Now he was more confused than ever.

* * *

"So, I was thinking of going back to Palmer Tech tomorrow."

Oliver almost choked on his dinner as he looked to his fiancé. "What?"

Felicity had been back home for 4 weeks and she had slowly begun to go stir crazy. She loved Oliver and her mother with all her heart, but they could be… overwhelming. She could tell Oliver was trying to give her some space, but her mother was treating her like a child. It had taken all of her convincing to just get her to leave the loft so that she and Oliver could have one dinner together alone. Now all she had to do was convince her to go back to Las Vegas. Maybe going back to work would show her that she didn't need to be babied.

"I thought you were able to do most of your job from here," he mentioned.

"Most, but not all," she told him, pulling away from the table and putting her plate on her lap. She wheeled into the kitchen and put the plate on the counter before continuing. "I have to make an appearance at some point . I don't want the board thinking they can replace me that easily."

"They didn't replace you when we were in Ivy Town," he reminded her, picking up his own plate and following her into the kitchen. "That was longer than you've been out this time."

"I know, but Ivy Town was different," she explained. "There I didn't have to deal with recovery from an injury and all the crap that goes with it. I was just… working remotely."

"Felicity, I think they'd understand if you weren't there," he replied. "They all know what you've been through."

"I understand that, but I still feel like I need to be there to show them that this –" she indicated to her legs "- isn't going to change anything. My office was already wheelchair accessible and Curtis made sure that anything I needed that wasn't was modified. I need to let them see that just because my legs don't work doesn't mean my mind isn't still sharp and I can't handle meeting with investors or new employees or anyone. Oliver, I need to do this."

"But you just got home," he explained, sounding just a tad bit whiny.

"I've been home for a month!"

"Well… what about your physical therapy?" he countered. "You still need to do that…"

"I've already talked to the therapist," she interrupted, "and she agreed to come to the office for my sessions. There are some perks to being CEO, you know."

Felicity could see that he still wasn't convinced, but she knew she had to do this. "Oliver, I can't just sit around the apartment all day. I need to do… something!"

"We can go out more then," he offered. "I'm sure there are plenty of things for us to do…"

"Oliver…" She stopped him with a reach of her hand, taking his and giving it a squeeze. "I need to do this. And… quite frankly… you and my mother are beginning to drive me nuts."

Oliver scrunched up his face in confusion as she let out sigh. "You're always here! I need to do something by myself and so do you."

"I'm not always here," he countered, putting the dishes in the dishwasher. "I run to the store and… stuff."

"Uh huh. When was the last time you went out as Green Arrow, huh?"

"The others have it covered," he explained, walking out of the kitchen to fetch the rest of the dishes from the table. "Darhk has gone to ground so there isn't much we can do."

"And why do you think Darhk has disappeared?" she asked him.

"Felicity, I don't know," he explained, starting to get exasperated. "Don't you think I want to find him?"

"Of course you want to find him," she agreed, "but you're giving him what he wants. He has no reason to be out and about now because he got what he wanted."

"You're starting to sound like Thea."

"Well, Thea apparently is the smart one in your family," she said with a smile.

Oliver looked at her for a moment before considering what to say. "Felicity, you know why I put my campaign on hold."

"Yes, I know," she acknowledged, "and I love you for staying with me during my recovery, but I'm ready to get my life back. I need to do this… and so do you."

Oliver let out a sigh as he leaned against the counter. "You want me to start up my campaign again."

"It did seem to get his attention last time," she explained.

Oliver looked at her with compassion. "Not the kind of attention that I wanted though." The last time he got Darhk's attention, it ended with Felicity in the hospital.

"Oliver, you're letting him win," she told him as she wheeled over and he crouched down in front of her. "Get back into the race. Bring him out. Then we can stop him."

"Not 'we'," he corrected. "I don't want you anywhere near this."

"Oliver…"

"No, Felicity," he said strongly, reaching out to take her hands. "I will not put you in danger again. If I do this, you're going to stay as far away from this as you can. I will not put you in danger again."

"Fine," she agreed, "as long as I get to go back to Palmer Tech."

Oliver knew the security at Palmer Tech was state-of-the-art and he would even make sure that there was extra security around her. It was probably the best place for her to be and it would give her something to keep her mind off of what was going on with the team.

"Fine. I'll call Alex and get a press conference setup. I guess I'm back to running for mayor."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Fair warning: This chapter involves who I think is "in the grave". I like this character a lot, but based on the scene from 4x01 and Oliver's reaction, it made sense to me that this was who it was (don't hate me).**_

Chapter 3

Oliver paced his campaign office nervously. Today was the day. He was going to give a press conference stating that his campaign was back on. He still wasn't sure it was the right idea, but Felicity was right. A smile came over his face as he thought about her. Of course Felicity was right. She was always right. Coming back into the light after her accident was just the thing to bring Darhk back into the open. It was just what he needed to finally stop him.

The office door opened as Alex stuck his head inside. "Ready?" he asked.

Oliver nodded as he walked towards him. "Let's do this."

Walking out into the main part of his campaign headquarters, he was inundated with flashes from cameras. Walking up to the podium, he took a deep breath as he looked to his right. Thea was there along with John. He had specifically asked Felicity to not attend, just in case Darhk tried something at the announcement. He was surprised when she didn't argue with him, but he figured she wasn't quite ready to be in the crosshairs again. She said she'd be watching from her office and that was enough for him.

"Good afternoon," he began as he smoothed down his jacket. "Thank you all for coming.

"Three months ago my fiancé and I were victims of a horrible act of violence. As you know, my fiancé was critically injured during this attack and since that time, I've been assisting her with her recovery. Now that she is doing better, we decided that it was time to get back to uniting this city against the violence that we know so well. This act was meant to either kill me or dissuade me from pursuing my candidacy for mayor. It has failed on both accounts. I stand here, alive and well and ready to continue my goal on making Star City safe for all of its residents, not just myself or my fiancé. If we stand up to the darkness, we will prevail. We can make Star City great again, if we stand united. Thank you."

He could hear the reporters shouting out questions, but he wasn't there to answer them. He had done what he was suppose to do and that was all he needed to do. Turning back to his office, he indicated to John and Thea to follow as he closed the door behind them.

"Now we wait," Oliver explained.

"Do you really think that you doing a press conference will be enough to get him to show himself again?" John asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

"He was getting desperate," Oliver told him. "He had been trying to convert me before. The attack on the limo felt like he was just trying to get rid of the problem. Now his problem is back. I don't expect he'll keep quiet for long."

* * *

"Curtis?"

It was almost a yell when she called for him, wheeling out of the elevator and into his space. One of the first people she wanted to check on was Curtis, just to find out what he'd been up to.

"Felicity? Is that you?"

She could see his shaggy mop of hair poking out from around a column as she wheeled over with a smile. "Hey! What's going on?"

"I um… didn't expect to see you… so soon," he stammered.

"Curtis, I've been out for almost three months," she explained. "How soon is too soon for you?"

"No, I meant… um… Well, with your…" He indicated towards her chair, which just riled her up.

"What, Curtis?" she said sharply. "Do you think my inability to walk has any bearing on me being able to be CEO of Palmer Tech? Because the board apparently thinks so, which is so completely ludicrous. I mean, seriously. FDR was president of the United States in a wheelchair and he did a bang up job. Having legs that don't work doesn't mean I all the sudden have a brain that doesn't work."

Curtis nodded carefully as he tried to relax. "Of course not. You're right. I was just… hoping to be done with this before you got back."

"And what is this?" she asked, wheeling closer to his workspace. "Please tell me it's something ground breaking that I can take to the board."

"Well, if it pans out… it might be."

Felicity's eyebrows shot up as she straightened up a little more in her chair. "Ooo… do tell."

"Well, like I said, I was hoping to be a little farther on this before you got back," he explained as he picked up a small piece of tech that looked like a small spider. Felicity noticed the appearance and had to cringe a little.

"Please don't tell me you're working on mechanical spiders because I don't even like real ones."

"No, no," he explained, putting the tech back down. "I actually started working on this after your accident. It's a way to help spinal patients get back some of their mobility."

"Oh?" This had Felicity's attention quickly.

Holding up the spider-looking device again, Curtis explained. "This attaches to the back, where the injury is and acts as a replacement spinal cord, sending electrical impulses from the device to the parts of the body that have been cut off because of the injury. It receives inputs from the uninjured part of the spinal cord and basically acts as a bridge over the injured portion of the spine."

"You're making an artificial spinal cord?" she asked incredulously.

"No, not the whole thing," he corrected. "The spinal cord branches out into too many nerves. This will only bridge a small portion of the cord and it has limited range. It also has to use the nerves that are attached to the disconnected part of the spinal cord to transmit the signals to the rest of the body. If any of those nerves are severed, this won't help, but for injuries to the main spinal cord…"

"…it would mean I could walk again."

Curtis smiled as he nodded his head. "Theoretically, yes."

Felicity couldn't take her eyes off of the spidery device in his hand. All the sudden, spiders didn't seem so scary.

"When do you think it could be ready?"

"I'm still working out some of the kinks," he explained, putting the device back on his work bench. "Right now it seems to overheat if left running for longer than 5 hours. If this is going to be a permanent fix, I have to resolve the overheating problem and the power problem."

"Power problem?"

"Yeah." Curtis frowned when he picked up a substantially sized battery pack. "I've got to figure out how to get this much power into something that can be permanently implanted in someone's back. I want it to be like a pacemaker. The problem is, this uses a lot of power and if it's implanted, it has to be able to run constantly for years. We don't want the patients to have to have more surgery just to replace the battery."

"What about just leaving the bulk of it external?" Felicity offered. "You could implant the… legs?... and leave the body outside. Maybe make an external battery that could be recharged. Then it could be a little bigger." She eyed the massive battery pack on the workbench and groaned. It looked like it held 8 size D batteries. "But definitely not _that_ big. That would hurt."

"Yeah," Curtis sighed. "No sense getting the ability to walk again just to have to carry around 5 pounds of batteries. I need to make it work with less power."

"That could also be why it's overheating," Felicity suggested. "Maybe you're giving it more than it needs."

"Maybe…"

Felicity just smiled and clapped her hands together. "So… what do you need?"

"Just time," he explained, seeing the hope in her eyes. "I haven't been working on it for that long. Give me a few more months."

Felicity just nodded as she continued to look at the device. This could not only be a game changer for Palmer Tech, but for herself as well.

* * *

Donna was trying to hurry. She had told Felicity she would be ready to go when they got home from work. Her heart really wasn't into it though. She had spent the better part of 3 months in Star City, celebrating the holidays and caring for her daughter. The last thing she wanted to do was go back to Las Vegas. She knew there really wasn't anything for her there anymore. Her boss didn't keep her job for her, even though she had practically begged him and she had worked for him for years. It didn't matter to her though. Even if he had kept her job, she would have quit as soon as she was back. All she was planning on doing was packing up her apartment, giving her notice, and heading back to Star City. She was tired of being away from her only daughter and whether or not Felicity wanted to admit it, she knew that she was going to need her mother. Felicity might not like the surprise of having her mother move nearby, but it didn't matter to her. She needed to be there.

When she heard the door to the loft open, she quickly looked at her watch and frowned. They were earlier than they had said and she wasn't anywhere near ready.

"I wasn't expecting you for another hour," Donna explained as she walked out of her room. "I'm not quite -"

Donna stopped as she saw who was standing in the entryway. It wasn't her daughter or Oliver. It was the man who had crashed the holiday party and put her daughter in the hospital.

"You."

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Darhk said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be home, what with the big announcement and all."

Donna wasn't sure what to do. She was frozen in place by the man standing in front of her with a smile on his face. How could he be so smug?

"They'll… They're… coming home soon," she stammered, slowing making her way over to her purse on the couch. "You… you should… leave."

"Oh, I will," he said calmly. "I just wanted to leave Oliver a message."

"A… message?"

"Yes, well, I was just intending to write something down, but now that you're here…" He could see her reaching for her purse, more than likely going for her phone. "I think you can give him a more effective message."

Just as Donna lunged for her purse, Darhk raised his hand and brought his fingers together. Donna was shocked when she felt her throat tighten, causing her breathing to stop. Reaching up to grasp her throat, she tried to pull away whatever was holding her, but there was nothing to grab.

As her vision started to go black, all she could think of was her daughter and how she would never be able to see her get married or see any of her beautiful grandchildren. She was so grateful that Felicity had found Oliver and he made her happy. Her last thought was of Felicity and how proud she was of the woman she became.

When her arms fell to her side, Darhk opened his hand as her lifeless body fell to the ground. "Yes, I think that will do nicely," he said softly before turning and walking out of the apartment.

* * *

Felicity just stared out the window as she thought about the news from Curtis. She never thought she'd be able to walk again and now there's at least a possibility. One of the things that depressed her the most about not being able to walk was that she wouldn't be able to walk down the aisle to Oliver at their wedding. She knew he wouldn't care if she walked or wheeled, but she did. She had always imagined a flowing white dress with a train trailing behind her. That was difficult to do when you had to be sitting down the whole way. Now at least she had some hope that her dream could come true.

"Hey, you ok?"

She felt Oliver's hand on hers as she turned back to him with a smile. "I'm great."

"Good first day back?" he asked, happy to see her smiling again.

"It was pretty good," she told him, leaning onto his shoulder as she squeezed his hand. "The board is still being a pain, but I think we've come up with a way for them to get past my… situation."

"Oh?" Oliver asked curiously.

Felicity just smiled as she reached up to give him a kiss. "Curtis has been working on something that could be revolutionary… if it works."

"Sounds intriguing. Care to elaborate?"

Felicity shook her head with a smile. "Not until we're sure it's going to work."

Oliver just smiled as he held onto her hand. It was good to see her so happy again.

As they made their way up to the loft, Oliver listened as she went through more details of her day. He could listen to her talk until she couldn't talk any more. It was music to his ears.

"So, I saw your press conference this morning," Felicity was telling him as he unlocked the apartment door. "Do you think that got his attention?"

"I'm sure we won't have to wait long to find out," he responded as they made their way into the loft. Felicity looked around the apartment and let out a sigh. She expected to see her mom's bags waiting at the door.

"Mom? We're home!" When she didn't hear a response, she frowned as she wheeled forward more. Oliver walked farther into the apartment and froze when he saw what was on the other side of the couch. Running over to her, he crouched down to check Donna's pulse as Felicity wheeled over. When she saw her mother's lifeless form, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Mom?!"

Her chair got caught on the couch, not allowing her to get any closer. Without thinking about it, she pushed herself up and clumsily fell onto the edge of the couch before sliding to the ground. Pulling herself over to her mother, she sobbed as she called for her. "Mom! No… Mom…"

Oliver quickly pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1. Felicity couldn't even register what he was saying as she reached over to pull her mother into her lap, holding her close to her chest.

"No no no no…"

* * *

The grey skies above Star City mimicked Felicity's mood perfectly as she tried to listen to the Rabbi, but all she could think of was how unfair it was. Her mother had stayed to take care of her. It was her fault she was still in the loft that day. She should have sent her home before Oliver made his announcement. They knew there would be repercussions. She just never imagined it would be this.

She could feel Oliver's hand in hers as she looked at the open hole in the ground. She probably should have brought her body back to Las Vegas, but Felicity was being selfish. She wanted her mother close, no matter what. She just wasn't ready to let go.

At some point, she saw Oliver stand and push her over to where a mound of dirt was gathered. She knew the custom of putting the dirt into the grave, but it just felt so final to do so. Leaning over, she gathered a handful of dirt into her hand and just looked at it a moment. Taking a deep breath, she threw the dirt into the grave and let out a soft sob, bringing her hand up to her face. Once Oliver followed her actions, he bent down next to her and engulfed her in a warm embrace, letting her cry on his shoulder. When her sobbing subsided, he went back to his position behind her and pushed her away as she looked down into the grave. How could she say goodbye?

After the funeral, Oliver took Felicity to John and Lyla's apartment. He knew she hadn't slept in almost 24 hours so he insisted she lay down before allowing any mourners to visit. He knew the Jewish custom of sitting shiva was to be held at their home, but neither one of them felt like the loft could be called 'home' anymore. John had graciously offered his home to them, but it was only until Oliver could find them a more permanent solution. It wasn't going to be easy to find a wheelchair accessible apartment in such short order, but he had to do it for Felicity.

Once Oliver saw that Felicity had finally fallen asleep, he began to make his way back to the loft to pick up a few things, but for some reason, found himself going back to the cemetery. The grave had been completely covered by the time he arrived. As he stood there looking at the gravestone, he barely even registered Barry as he walked up behind him.

"I'm sorry I missed the funeral," Barry said sadly.

"Zoom?" Oliver asked, holding in his emotions.

"Yeah."

"There was a time I would have thought this was my fault," Oliver told him, "that I brought this darkness upon us. Now I know it's not my fault: It's my responsibility."

"Responsibility?" Barry asked softly. "To do what?"

"To end it," Oliver replied, staring at the gravestone. "I'm gunna kill him."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I want to be left alone."

"Ok." Barry turned and flashed away, leaving Oliver still staring at the grave. Walking up to the headstone, he placed his hand on it, closing his eyes as a tear fell down his face. Bringing his hand up to his face, he tried to hold in his emotions, but it was too much as another tear fell and he dropped his head, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He would find a way to end it… for her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

John couldn't believe he was actually going to do what Amanda Waller had suggested. It sounded so ludicrous. How could saying one phrase to Andy do anything? He looked at the man in the cage and didn't see his brother, but he was trying to have hope, like Oliver, that something of Andy still existed.

After everything that had happened with Donna, he knew that he had to try every possibility. That's what brought him to standing in front of the cage that held his brother as Andy stared at the wall, not even looking at John. Letting out a breath, he crossed his arms in front of him and rolled his eyes. _Here goes nothing_.

"It always rains when I take my dog for a walk," he recited.

The reaction from Andy was not anything what John expected. When Andy turned to him, his expression had softened as he looked at John in surprise. "Next time bring an umbrella."

John wasn't sure what that meant, but a big smile came over Andy's face as he reached out and grabbed the bars. "You talked to A.R.G.U.S." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Amanda Waller," John clarified, still looking at Andy in confusion. "All she gave me was that phrase."

Andy nodded as he let out a breath. "That's the safe phrase," he explained. "It lets me know that the person I'm talking to is safe to talk to."

"And you needed Amanda Waller to tell you I was safe to talk to?!" he spat.

"It's not that, John," Andy tried to explain. "I just couldn't be certain who was allowed to know of my cover."

A sudden clarity came over John. "You work for A.R.G.U.S."

"Yes," he told him. "And I have a lot to tell you."

* * *

It had been a bad week for Felicity. She had barely slept, barely ate. Oliver knew what it was like to lose a parent, so he knew that the best thing he could do for her was to be with her. Every night he would hold her, trying to lull her to sleep with gentle touches, rubbing her back or stroking her hair. He would hold her all night, trying to keep the nightmares away. He knew they'd be coming. Even if she didn't witness her mother's death, he knew she'd still see it in her mind and he would be there for her every time.

Thea had been a godsend during the week, talking to realtors, arranging for not only the sale of the loft, but the purchase of a new condo that could fully accommodate Felicity's wheelchair. She had done an excellent job of keeping the location of their new place out of the public. The last thing they wanted was to have Darhk find them again. For now, the condo was listed under a pseudonym for their own safety.

As Oliver unlocked the door to their new place, he swung open the door so Felicity could wheel herself through. Everything from the loft had already been moved in, leaving virtually nothing for them to do except bring the clothes they had with them from before. As Oliver carried in their suitcases and closed the door, he looked to Felicity, hoping to see a little smile on her face, but she just looked around without saying a word.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked as he put her bags down near the entrance. "Thea brought over some of the food that people have brought." Since neither of them wanted to go back to the loft, they had arranged for mourners to bring things to Thea and Laurel's apartment. Once Oliver had found them a new place, they had brought the food there.

"I'm fine," she said softly, just looking around their new place. There were familiar things everywhere, but it still felt so empty.

"You're not going to do anyone any favors if you don't eat," he told her as he crouched down to take her hand.

Felicity just smiled as she brought her hand up to cup his face. "I don't think I could get through this without you."

Smiling himself, he reached up to cover her hand on his face. "I'm not going anywhere."

A knock on their door made both of the jump as Oliver got up and made his way to the door. He knew only their closest friends knew where their new apartment was, but he was still being cautious. Looking through the peephole, Oliver relaxed when he saw a familiar face. Opening the door, he gave his friend a small smile before seeing who was with him. His whole body tensed as he stood by the door.

"What's going on, John?" he asked, staring back at Andy Diggle.

"Can we come in?" John asked.

Oliver paused a moment before opening the door farther and letting the brothers come inside. As he closed the door behind him, he noticed that this Andy Diggle was nothing like the man he had recently seen caged up in the liar.

John smiled a little at Felicity before taking a deep breath. "Andy works for A.R.G.U.S."

A look of shock covered Oliver's face as Felicity just rolled her eyes. "Of course he does. Is there anyone we know who doesn't work for A.R.G.U.S.?"

Oliver ignored Felicity's snarky remark before addressing the brothers. "And why didn't Andy tell us this before?"

"It was against my orders," Andy explained. "I couldn't reveal my mission to anyone, not even my family."

"So, why the sudden change of heart?" Oliver asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"I talked to Waller," John explained, causing Oliver to get angry.

"Digg, I told you not to do that."

"Oliver, we need help!" John exclaimed. "After everything that's happened… I had to do something!"

"I told you favors for her come with a price," Oliver reminded him. "She won't let this go."

"Actually, she might," Andy offered. When he saw he had gotten Oliver's attention, he continued. "A.R.G.U.S. recruited me while I was still in the army," he explained. "One of the guys in my platoon had gotten into some bad stuff while we were there. The guy was just a kid. He didn't know any better, but that kid had saved my life. We were taking sniper fire and I thought we had gotten the last of them. I had gotten up from my position and he saw that there was still one left. He managed to knock me down and take out the sniper in the process. If it wasn't for him, I'd never be able to see my family again.

"Anyway, he was making some money doing some not-so-legal things and when A.R.G.U.S. got wind of what he was doing. They wanted to take down an even bigger fish and his little side business was a perfect way into that organization. They told him that they would not tell the army about his illegal dealings in return for his cooperation with tracking down this other group. I could tell the kid was scared. He would never be able to handle what they were asking him to do and would probably get killed in the process. So, I offered to take his place. A.R.G.U.S. made it look like I was his partner and he had decided to get out of the game. I took over everything and planted myself in the line of fire. I had hoped that it would end quickly, but then I got discharged and A.R.G.U.S. still had not been able to take down the bigger fish. I was able to come home to my family, but behind the scenes, I continued to work for them."

"Then Deadshot was sent to kill him," John supplied.

"Yeah, that wasn't part of the plan," Andy explained, "but it got A.R.G.U.S. what they wanted: A man inside H.I.V.E."

"So, you've been working as a ghost in H.I.V.E. for the past 6 years, but you've actually been working for A.R.G.U.S.?" Felicity was getting confused trying to keep all of the secrets straight.

"That was the plan," Andy told them, "but then Darhk gave me those mind control drugs. I didn't have a choice but to do what he told me."

"A.R.G.U.S. lost track of him once H.I.V.E. got him," John explained. "There wasn't anything anyone could do until Andy could find his own way out."

"Or have someone get me out," Andy corrected, looking at John with a smile. "But I still couldn't break my cover until someone came to me with the right safe phrase."

"And that's where Waller came in," John supplied. "She gave me his safe phrase."

Andy could see that Oliver still wasn't sure if he should believe any of what they were saying. "I still have my original mission. I have to take down H.I.V.E., but I don't think I can do it alone anymore. If you help me do this, I think Waller will be grateful you came to her for help."

Oliver just shook his head and leaned against the back of the couch. It was a lot to take in, but he knew A.R.G.U.S. wasn't above doing something like this. He had been targeting for a similar task himself when they sent him in with Reiter and it had been nearly impossible to get out.

"So, what do you know?" Oliver asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Well, for starters," Andy said with a sigh of relief, "I know where his base of operations in Star City is."

* * *

Oliver looked down at the location Andy had given them and it couldn't be more different than what he had expected. Most "bad guys" have some dark, dingy warehouse as their secret hideout. It turns out Damien Darhk had higher standards than that, instead using an unimposing six story office building.

At first glance he wouldn't have even considered this as being from where Darhk was running his operations, but the sight of armed personnel on the roof and inside the lobby told him that Andy's information was good. Now all they had to do was find Darhk.

"How long are we going to just sit here?" Thea asked through the comms. They had taken up places at various locations around the building, Oliver and Thea on adjacent buildings, Laurel at ground level near the lobby and John in the parking garage. They anticipated one of them would catch sight of Darhk at some point, but so far all they had seen were ghosts.

"We need to know if he's in there," Oliver told her as he scanned the streets. "There's no point in giving away that we know where he is if he isn't even there."

"But what if he's already inside?" Thea asked.

"He's not," came Felicity's voice. "Traffic cameras clearly showed him leaving the area and not coming back."

Oliver smiled at hearing Felicity's voice over the radio. He didn't want to bring her into this, but she was insistent. After everything she had been through, this felt… normal to her and she needed normal.

"Don't you think he could avoid traffic cameras if he wanted to?" Oliver could tell that Thea was getting very impatient.

"Hang on," Oliver said quietly as he noticed a black sedan heading down the street. "Someone's coming."

The radio fell silent as Oliver watched the vehicle come towards the building. When it turned and headed into the parking garage, he moved, trying to get a better vantage point.

"John, a vehicle just went into the garage on the west side," he told him.

"I'm on it." Getting out of the van, John quickly moved to the west entrance and watched as the sedan made its way in. The vehicle stopped right in front of an elevator that would take them into the main part of the building. From his hiding location, John could see Damien Darhk exiting the car and making his way in.

"I have eyes on Darhk," he told him, pulling out his glock and aiming at the crime lord. An angry grunt escaped his throat when he realized he didn't have a clean shot, a concrete pillar blocking his way. "He's in the elevator. I couldn't get a clean shot."

"I've got him," Felicity informed them as she watched the elevator rise from her computers. Andy was just watching over her shoulder, amazed at how fast she was able to get into Darhk's system. "I was able to hack into their security system."

"Any idea of where he's going?" Oliver asked, taking up a better position on the adjacent building.

"There's a large office on the top floor," she informed them. "It's probably where he's going."

"Copy that." Oliver watched the three ghosts patrolling the roof of the building. They seemed to be doing a good job of spreading out, making sure all angles were covered. It wasn't going to be easy to get past them.

"Speedy, I count three on the roof."

"That's what I see too," Thea agreed. She was on the roof of another adjacent building.

"We have to do this quietly," Oliver informed her as he readied an arrow.

"Right." Thea also readied an arrow similar to Oliver's. They were tranquilizer arrows and should be able to knock out the guards before they're able to let anyone know they were there.

"On three," Oliver instructed. "One… two… three!"

As he got to three, both arrows flew, hitting two of the ghosts in the chest. Within a second, they were both down. It took the third a moment to realize what was happening, but that moment was too long as another tranquilizer arrow flew from Oliver's bow, knocking him in the chest. He had just started to click his radio when he fell to the ground unconscious.

Both Oliver and Thea used their grappling arrows to slide down to the building, now that the roof was clear. Making their way to the stairwell, Oliver quickly opened the door as Thea held an arrow out, making sure no one was coming up the stairs towards them. When they saw it was clear, Thea lowered her bow as they entered the stairwell.

"We're heading in," Oliver informed them as they made their way down.

"The elevator stopped at the sixth floor," Felicity told them. "The big office is to your left as you come out, fourth door on your right."

"Copy."

Oliver and Thea quietly made their way down the hall, arrows drawn, watching for any activity. When they heard voices coming from around a corner, they stopped and just listened. They couldn't tell what was being said, but they were pretty certain the voice belonged to Darhk.

Indicating that Thea should remain where she was, Oliver lowered his bow and took a tentative step forward so he could see around the corner. He saw Darhk enter the room Felicity had mentioned, leaving two ghosts to stand outside. Making his way back to Thea, he held up two fingers and pointed in the direction of the office. Thea just nodded as she walked up to stand behind him, waiting for him to make his move. When Oliver started moving, Thea followed closely behind until the ghosts noticed their approach. Before they even had a chance to raise their weapons, Oliver and Thea took them out, leaving them unconscious on the ground.

The ambush wasn't as quiet as Oliver had wanted so as he entered the office, his senses were on alert. Readying his bow, he carefully stepped inside, walking around a glass partition only to find an empty desk. As he lowered his bow slightly, he stepped in farther only to be caught off guard by an invisible force knocking his bow from his hands. The next thing he knew he couldn't breathe as Darhk made his way out from behind one of the partitions.

"I really thought by now you would have learned," Darhk said with a smile. "How many times is this now? Four? Five? I've lost count. Well, I think maybe this will be the last."

With that, he tightened his magical grip on Oliver's throat as Oliver struggled to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thea sneaking in behind Darhk. All he wanted to do was warn her off, but she kept coming with her bow drawn. As she let an arrow fly, Darhk noticed and turned his attention to the arrow, stopping it mid flight. When he saw who had shot it, his smile faded and his grip on Oliver loosened, causing Oliver to fall to the ground gasping.

"I see you remember me," Thea hissed as she walked up to him.

"Indeed," he said softly, as he slowly backed away. "That's quite trick you have."

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises," Thea told him with a smile.

"So am I."

With that, Darhk threw something to the ground, causing a large puff of smoke to billow out. Thea coughed as she tried to see around it, but by the time it dissipated, Darhk was gone.

"Damn it!" Thea looked around the room to try to find out where he went, but he was no where to be seen. As she ran out into the hallway, Oliver was just getting to his feet as he tried to stop her.

"Speedy!" Coughing a bit himself, he finally became stable on his feet as he called to the others. "Darhk is on the run."

"Copy," John replied, heading to the garage elevator. He didn't get far before he was met with two ghosts pointing their weapons at him. With two quick shots, he took care of them before getting to the doors. "On my way up."

"I've got the main entrance," came Laurel's voice as she made her way to the lobby. Before she even got to the glass doors, she saw the ghosts inside leveling their weapons at her. With one blast of the canary cry, she shattered the windows of the lobby doors and caused the ghosts to drop down, holding their ears. As she made her way in, she dispensed with as many ghosts as she encountered, leaving unconscious bodies in her wake.

Back up in the office, Oliver had turned and started to make his way out, but was stopped by a ghost coming in. He quickly knocked his weapon from his grasp, but the ghost managed to get his own hits in against him. Backing into the office more, Oliver led him into a larger fighting space so he could more effectively deal with him. After landing a few blows himself, Oliver flipped the man over, causing him to be thrown into a black cabinet at the end of the room. The force of the impact caused the cabinet to swing open as a golden dagger fell to the ground near the ghost. Oliver saw the dagger as his eyes got wide with clarity. When he saw the ghost reach for the dagger, he held up his hand and yelled, "DON'T!"

The ghost grabbed the dagger and got back to his feet. Before he even got completely upright, he started to convulse. Oliver could see the veins in his neck start to bulge as the ghost's eyes opened wide. On hearing the commotion, Thea returned to find the man gasping for air. The next thing she knew, he fell to the ground with his eyes opened wide and a terrified expression on his face. A look of fear crossed his face as he looked down at the dagger in his hand. Before he could even drop it, he twitched before falling still.

"What the hell was that?" she asked as Oliver walked over to the ghost. When she saw him bend down to pick up the dagger, she let out a gasp. "Oliver!" Before she could even move, she saw him pick up the dagger and slide it into his jacket, obviously not feeling the same effects as the last man who touched the weapon. She just looked at him in surprise as he walked past her and out of the office.

"Let's go."

Thea took one more look at the ghost before following Oliver out of the room. As they made their way to the elevators, the doors opened and John stepped out, glock at the ready. When he saw his teammates with no other ghosts around, he lowered his weapon.

"Darhk didn't use the elevator," he explained.

"He's gone," Oliver told him, feeling Thea's eyes on him without actually looking. When John saw Thea's expression, he looked at her questioningly, but she didn't say a word. Walking back to the elevator, they made their way down, planning on rendezvousing with Laurel as they left. Thea still looked at Oliver strangely as they rode the elevator down. Something strange had just happened and she hoped Oliver would have some answers.

* * *

"Now are you going to explain to me what just happened?" Thea asked with anger in her voice. Oliver hadn't said a word about it on the way back to the lair and she was tired of waiting.

"Darhk got away," Oliver offered, walking over to a storage cabinet to retrieve a metal box.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Thea crossed her arms in front of her as she walked into the raised area with John and Laurel close behind. Felicity turned just as she saw Oliver retrieve the dagger from his jacket and put it into the box.

"What's going on?" Laurel asked.

When she saw Oliver wasn't going to elaborate, Thea told them the story. "That... thing Oliver has..."

"It's a dagger," Oliver offered as he closed the metal box.

Thea sighed impatiently. "Fine! That... dagger... was in Darhk's office, but when one of the ghosts touched it, he... it killed him! Like... magically or something! All he did was touch it!"

"What?" It was Felicity's turn to get concerned as she maneuvered over to where Oliver was standing. She had seen Oliver handle the weapon as he put it into the box, but he didn't seem any worse for wear. When she made her way over to him, Oliver just smiled and held out his hand for her to take.

"I'm fine."

"How is that even possible?" Thea asked, happy that her brother was alive, but not sure how he couldn't have been affected.

"Maybe it only affects the ghosts?" John offered.

"No, it's not just the ghosts," Oliver revealed. "It's important that none of you touch it."

"But yet you can," Thea observed.

Oliver let out a sigh as he put the box on the counter and turned to face them. "I have… protection," he explained.

"Protection?" John asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"John Constantine," Oliver told them. Unzipping his jacket and lifting his shirt, he showed them the four Asian characters tattooed on his abdomen. Seeing their confused look, he explained further. "It's a protection spell. He gave it to me when I first met him on the island."

"And it protected you from what... magic?" John asked.

"Specifically the magic from the dagger," Oliver told them as he took a deep breath. "During my 5 years away, I spent some time working for A.R.G.U.S. One of the assignments they sent me on was on Lian Yu. A man name Reiter was looking for this dagger. It gave the possessor… mystical powers."

"That's where you'd seen powers like Darhk's before," Felicity offered. "He found the dagger."

Oliver nodded as he continued the story. "It's an ancient artifact that was used in human sacrifices. Only the high priests were able to touch it. Anyone else who tried… well, Thea saw what happened to them. The high priests were able to use the power of the dagger to not only extend their own life, but give them mystical powers. It helped them maintain control of the population."

"How?" Laurel asked, thoroughly fascinated with Oliver's story.

"If they used the dagger to sacrifice some of their own blood, it would give them these powers."

"So, wait a second," Thea interrupted. "Without this dagger… Darhk loses his powers?"

"Eventually," Oliver told them. "It takes a while to wear off."

"How long?" Felicity asked.

Oliver just shrugged. "Maybe a day," he estimated. "When Reiter found the dagger, he used some spell to be able to control it, but I saw him perform the ritual at least once a day. I imagine Darhk does the same thing. I managed to get the dagger away from Reiter thanks to John Constantine's gift and then A.R.G.U.S. was able to bring him and the dagger in."

"And somehow, Darhk managed to get the dagger," John sighed. "Leave it to A.R.G.U.S. to leave something like that laying around."

"So, now what?" Laurel asked.

"This will weaken Darhk," Oliver told them, "so he won't want it to be out of his control for long. As soon as he finds out it's gone, he'll do anything to get it back."

"He might become reckless," John said, following Oliver's train of thought.

Oliver nodded as he looked over at his team. "He's more dangerous now than he ever was because he'll be desperate. We have to be ready for anything."

Everyone nodded as Felicity squeezed Oliver's hand gently. Looking back down to her, he gave her a reassuring smile. It was all a matter of time.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Do you really think we should just wait?" Felicity asked as she wheeled into their new condo. "I really hate just waiting."

"In this case, it's the best thing to do," Oliver explained, closing the door behind him. A smile came over his face as he walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, gently squeezing them.

"You did really good tonight," he told her as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"It was nice to be back down there," she said with a smile. "I like feeling useful."

"You're more than useful," he told her, as he walked to around and knelt down in front of her. "You're irreplaceable."

Felicity just smiled as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. As she reached up to cup his face, she deepened the kiss as his arm wrapped around her waist. As he pulled her closer their moment was interrupted by an alert sounding from the laptop on the table. Settling back in her chair, she released her hold on Oliver with a sigh, gently touching his face.

"Hold that thought," she told him as she pulled back and wheeled over to the table. Opening up the laptop, she frowned at what she saw.

"What is it?" he asked as he walked up behind her.

"I set an alert up on your email accounts," she explained. "Running for mayor in this town isn't the safest thing to do so I put something in that would alert me if you got any files with attachments over a certain size. The last thing we need is for you to get sent a nasty virus."

"Is that what it is?" he asked, trying to read over her shoulder.

"I don't think so." After making a few clicks, the email showed up on her screen. "It looks like it might be a video, but it was sent from an anonymous address."

Felicity look at him for approval as he nodded slightly. With a click of her mouse, the file opened and a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Darhk." Oliver could feel his anger starting to boil.

"That was quick," Felicity noted.

"Hello, Oliver," Darhk said with a smile. "Sorry to resort to a video file, but I think it's the best way to get this particular message out to you. You see, I had an unwelcome visitor tonight and he took something that belongs to me. Now, since I don't know how to get in touch with your green leathered friend, I thought maybe you could do it for me. I suggest a trade. You can give me back what he took…"

The camera pulled back to reveal a cell holding a young boy. When Oliver saw who it was, his heart fell to his stomach. "…no…" Felicity looked at him in surprise when she heard his gasp and saw the look of terror on his face.

"… and I'll return… your son."

Felicity's eyes widened as she turned to see Oliver slowing backing up, never taking his eyes off the screen. "No…"

"Bring it to where he took it," Darhk told him. "Come alone. If I see any leather clad vigilantes following you, you'll never see your son again."

Felicity turned back to him and saw his face was as pale as a ghost. "Oliver?" With the way Darhk was talking, it was obvious that he thought this young boy was Oliver's son. She had known Oliver had been holding something back ever since they returned from Central City. She finally realized what it was.

Oliver was pulling out his phone and heading out of the condo before the video even stopped playing. "Come on… come on…" he urged.

"Oliver!" Felicity wheeled after him as quickly as she could. She managed to catch up with him just as he was entering the elevator.

"Why didn't you call me?!" he yelled, still talking into his phone. "Samantha-"

Felicity stuck her arm out and prevented the doors from closing, causing Oliver to look at her and stop talking. Without saying a word, she wheeled into the elevator and turned as the doors closed.

Oliver looked at her nervously, but he needed to finish his conversation. "Come to Star City," he said into the phone. "I'll explain when you get here."

Oliver disconnected the call and put the phone back into his pocket as he looked down at Felicity. His big secret was just outed by Damien Darhk and now he had to face the consequences.

"Felicity-"

"Later, Oliver," she interrupted harshly, not looking up at him. "Right now we need to focus on getting him back. After that you can explain to me why you thought it was so important not to tell me you had a son."

Oliver knew she deserved a full explanation, but she was right: The priority now was to get him back.

* * *

The tension in the air in the lair was high as Oliver paced and John watched. They were both anxiously waiting to see what magic Felicity could do this time. They needed more than just a hack into the building's security system this time. They needed to know exactly where they were holding William.

John had arrived shortly before Oliver and Felicity. As Felicity started her work, Oliver had started to explain what had happened, but he hadn't gone into a lot of detail. All he knew was that Darhk had kidnapped a kid and Oliver was freaked out about it.

"I was able to hack into an A.R.G.U.S. satellite," Felicity explained, as Oliver stopped pacing long enough to look at what she had done. "Now we have real-time infrared video of the entire area."

"Can you tell where they're holding him?" he asked, looking over her shoulder.

"All I can tell is where the bodies are," she explained as she brought up the video from Darhk. "I'll check the video to see if there are any clues there."

Oliver just nodded as he crossed his arms in front of him. As he looked at Felicity work, he could tell she was still very angry with him, but he was grateful she could put that aside to be able to help him get William back. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it without her.

"What's going on?" Thea asked as she and Laurel entered the liar.

"Darhk has kidnapped a small boy," John explained. "He wants Oliver to return the dagger for the kid."

"Just like that?" Laurel asked. "I don't understand. Why would he come to you? Does he know you're the Green Arrow?"

"No," Oliver replied, "but he knows that I have contact with him."

"So, what does this kid have to do with any of this?" Thea asked.

Felicity stopped her typing for a moment as Oliver looked down at her. He could feel the tension between them. This was not the way he wanted her to find out about his son, but he knew it was time for the truth. As she started typing again, he let out a nervous sigh.

"The boy's name is William," he explained as he turned to his team, "and he's… he's my son."

When Felicity paused again, he looked back at her and saw the look of disappointment on her face. She felt like she had just been stabbed in the heart as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she managed to regain some semblance of control, she opened her eyes and went back to her work.

John noticed Felicity's reaction and walked over to her, looking at her with concern. As he placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him and offered him a weak smile. It was then he realized that she hadn't known.

Laurel and Thea just stared at Oliver, trying to comprehend what he was telling them.

"Wait… you have a kid?" It was Thea who finally broke the silence. "When did that happen?"

"About 10 years ago," he said quickly. "I just found out about him when we were in Central City."

On hearing this, Laurel let out a huff as she crossed her arms in front of her. She knew that the child was conceived during their time together and it just made her angry. She didn't understand how she could have been so blind.

"So you didn't know," John stated as he kept a protective hand on Felicity's shoulder.

"No."

"But you've known for the past three months or so," John continued, sounding a little more angry.

Oliver sighed as he looked down at Felicity. "Yes."

When he felt Felicity tense up, John squeezed her shoulder a little more tightly, trying to give her the support she needed.

"Well, why didn't you tell us?" Thea asked, feeling a little annoyed that her brother would keep such a thing from her. She had also noticed Felicity's reactions during their conversation and realized she wasn't the only one kept in the dark.

"It's… complicated," was all Oliver said as he tried to change the subject. "Darhk has him and he wants to exchange him for the dagger. And… he wants me to come alone."

Thea let out a small laugh. "Of course he does! Ollie, you don't honestly think he's going to just let him go? Don't you remember what happened the last time he kidnapped someone you loved?"

"Yes, Thea, I know!" Oliver shouted, before taking a breath and rubbing his hands across his face. "I don't know what else to do! He has my –"

Oliver's voice caught in his throat as he tried to reign in his emotions. As Felicity turned to look at him in sympathy, John walked over and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. As a father himself, he understood how this must be tearing him apart.

"He doesn't even know I'm is father," Oliver told him, looking at his friend in desperation.

"We'll get him back, Oliver."

Felicity turned back to her computers, more dedicated than ever to pinpoint exactly where William was. She may be angry at Oliver for keeping this secret from her, but no one deserves this kind of torture, especially not someone she loves.

"Well, we can't just give him back that dagger," Laurel said, feeling a bit more sympathetic. "We'll loose the advantage we have over him."

"Then we find a way to rescue William without giving it back," John explained, taking control of the situation.

"I think I have something."

Everyone's attention was brought to Felicity as she pointed to the video from Darhk. "This is where Darhk is keeping William," she explained as she zoomed up on a pipe running the length of the ceiling. "And this is a feed for an argon suppression system."

When she looked and saw all of their confused faces, she explained in more detail. "Argon is used in server rooms for fire suppression," she explained. "It's not like you can just throw some sprinklers in there. Water and electronics don't exactly mix. The argon is used to suffocate a fire, but it would also suffocate anyone in the room. They would only use that in a server room." Bringing up the schematics of the building, she pointed to a large room in the sub-basement of the building. "This used to be the server room for the previous owner of the building. It has to be where they're keeping William."

"But it looks like there's only one entrance to that room," John noticed, pointing at the schematics.

"Currently there is," Felicity explained before pulling up a different schematic that looked to be the same building, but the drawings looked older. "That building went through some major renovations in '07. An old service entrance down in the sewers was boarded up. It doesn't even appear in the newer plans supplied for the renovations, but lucky for us, I have access to the originals."

"Where?" Oliver asked, suddenly full of hope.

"Southwest corner," she supplied. "There should be access through the sewer line on 48th street."

"That's it," John announced as he turned. "Suit up."

Oliver watched as the others went to get their gear on. It was odd not to be joining them, but this time, he was going in as Oliver Queen. Turning back to Felicity, he found her looking up at him with concern in her eyes.

"This is whole thing is so crazy," she sighed as she ran her hands over her head.

"I know," Oliver replied softly, walking over and crouching down next to her. He knew she was still mad at him, but he had an overwhelming need to just touch her. Reaching out, he gently took one of her hands and was grateful that she didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about William," he said softly. "I really wanted to. I begged her to let me tell you."

"I assume you mean Samantha?" she inquired with some jealousy in her voice, remembering the name from the phone conversation.

"Yeah."

"Is she the girl you told me about this summer?" she asked. After their brunch with the Hoffman's, they briefly got on the subject of children and Oliver had told her about his one time pregnancy scare.

Oliver just nodded as he looked down at their entwined fingers. "She didn't want me to know about him," he explained. "My mother… paid her to lie to me."

On hearing that, Felicity squeezed his hand tighter. She had known Moira Queen was devious, but this seemed low even for her.

"I only found out because he literally ran into me at CC Jitters and I saw him with his mom. I went to confront her about it, but she denied he was mine. I managed to get a piece of his hair and did a DNA test, but I didn't need the test. I could just tell."

"But why you didn't just tell us?" she asked, desperate for some answers. "Did you really think it would change our opinion of you that you had a child?"

"No," Oliver responded truthfully. "It wasn't my idea. Samantha wouldn't let me see him if I told anyone. I think she was concerned that if it got out, I would try to take him away from her. And based on my mother's actions when I told her about the pregnancy, I can understand her concerns."

Felicity could understand as well. Even with Moira Queen out of the picture, if somehow it got out that Oliver Queen had a son, it would be a media circus. Oliver was put into an impossible situation and did what he thought was best. She may not like it, but she did understand.

"Well, apparently somehow Darhk found out," Felicity observed, "and it wasn't one of us telling him."

Oliver shook his head and stood up when he heard the others coming back into the room. "I did this to him," Oliver told her, still holding onto her hand. "Just by being his father, I did this to him."

"No," Felicity told him sternly, not letting go of his hand as he tried to walk away. "Don't go back to pulling an old Oliver on me. This is not your fault. That man… is a monster for using that little boy like this. You just get him back."

Oliver smiled as he leaned down at gave her a warm kiss. Bringing her free hand up to his face, she gently cupped his cheek as she ran her thumb across his skin.

"Be careful," she said softly before he pulled away and walked over to the storage cabinet where he had kept the dagger. Opening the metal box, he reached inside and pulled it out, letting out a sigh as he stared at it. It was time to end this.


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: I know that there are a lot of opinions about how Felicity will react to hearing about Oliver's son. I'm hoping for a scenario that doesn't involve a break-up. Their discussion about him in this isn't done. Felicity may be understanding, but she's still hurt, as anyone would be, but one thing at a time. Got to be a hero first!_**

Chapter 6

Felicity was trying not to bite her nails as she watched Oliver's car stop in front of the office building. He had gone in without comms and without a weapon. There was no way to keep him informed about what the rest of the team was doing or even if they were going to be able to back him up. She would be able to keep an eye on him using the A.R.G.U.S. satellite, but there would be nothing she could do to help and that made her very nervous.

"Are you always this anxious when they go out?" Andy asked as he pulled up a chair to sit next to her.

"No," she told him. "Well, maybe… a little." Letting out a sigh, she ran her hands over her head. "This is different. It's… personal. And Oliver tends to get a little… overenthusiastic when it's personal and I can't talk to him or hear what's going on with him and I…"

"It's ok, Felicity," Andy interrupted, putting a comforting hand on her arm. "I know you're worried about him."

"I'm worried about all of them," she corrected. "Every time we've gone up against Darhk we've failed. We can't fail this time. There's too much at stake."

Directing her attention back to her computers, Felicity watched as Oliver got out of the vehicle and headed towards the building. Her nail biting got worse when she saw three men approaching, obviously carrying weapons. Oliver just held his hands up and kept walking as the armed men stepped aside. When she saw him walk into the lobby, she let out a sigh of relief.

"He's in," Felicity relayed as the rest of the team sat in the sewer. Thea grimaced at the smell as she held her hand up to her face.

"Thank goodness," she sighed. "I don't think I could stay down here one more minute."

Ignoring her remark, John walked over to the locked metal door in front of him. The service entrance had been right where Felicity said it would be. From the sewers, it just looked like a metal door that had been sealed tight. It probably just looked like a wall from inside.

"You'll have to get through the door quietly," Felicity explained. "There are two guards with William and you don't want to alert them."

"Great," John sighed as he pulled out some cord from his pockets. The primacord should be able to make quick work of the seal around the door and the padlock, but getting through the wall on the other side might take a little more effort depending on what it was made of.

Wrapping a bit of cord around the padlock and connecting the detonator, John indicated that the women should back up as he followed them back around a corner.

"Here goes nothing." Pressing the detonator, a loud hissing sound and a thud was heard as a bright light appeared around the corner. When the light faded, he looked around the corner to see the edges of the door smoking and the padlock laying on the floor. Going back to the door, he easily swung it open, revealing a stud wall covered in drywall. Letting out a sigh of relief, he pulled out his knife and set to work on the gypsum, cutting a hole big enough to get through. Once Thea and Laurel had followed him through, he said, "We're in."

Up in the lobby, Oliver walked over the remnants of the glass doors and stopped in front of a man holding a metal detector wand. His hands were still out, one of which was holding a canvas bag containing the dagger. He waited impatiently as the man waved the wand over him, making sure to stop near his ears to check for any kind of radio. When the wand neared the bag, the man took a step forward and looked inside, seeing the golden weapon.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Oliver warned, garnishing a look from the man in the mask. "I'm just saying…"

Satisfied that the dagger was the only thing in the bag, the man backed away and raised his own weapon, indicating that Oliver should follow him. As he started walking, he felt the presence of two other guards falling in step behind him as they made their way to a stairwell. Heading down to the sub-basement, Oliver followed until they stopped outside of a door with an electronic lock. After punching in the code, the man pushed the door open, revealing a cage inside containing a very scared little boy.

Without waiting for permission, Oliver ran into the room and over to the cage. When William saw him, he got up from his cot and walked over to the door of the cage, gripping the bars tightly.

"Are you ok?" Oliver asked, squatting down in front of him.

William just nodded, but Oliver could see the fear in his eyes. "I want to go home."

"You will be soon, buddy," Oliver told him, giving him a soft smile. "Just a few more minutes and we'll get you out of here."

William nodded as Oliver noticed a slight movement from behind the cage. They were keeping in the shadows, but he knew his team was there.

"Listen, buddy," Oliver began, getting William's attention. "In a few minutes I'm going to be talking to the man who took you. When he comes in, I want you to go and sit on that cot and close your eyes tight. Can you do that for me?"

William nodded quickly as he looked over at Oliver. "It's going to be ok," Oliver said with reassurance. "It's almost over."

"Ah, Oliver, you followed my instructions to the letter. I guess in order for you to do what I wanted, I just needed to find the right incentive."

Oliver felt his anger start to boil up as he heard Darhk enter the room. Looking over at William, he gave him a quick nod as he stood up. Before turning to Darhk, he watched William walk back to the cot and sit down, pulling his legs up to his chest and burying his face in his knees.

"I brought what you wanted," Oliver said as he turned to face him. "Now let him go."

"Not quite yet," Darhk said, indicating to the guards to surround Oliver. "First… my item."

Oliver slowly walked over to him and held out the bag, waiting for Darhk to take it as the guards encircled him, blocking his access to the cage and his son.

"If you wouldn't mind."

Darhk indicated to the bag, making Oliver think he wanted him to retrieve the dagger for him. He knew what he was trying to do, but he didn't want to give away his ace in the hole quite yet. Oliver looked at the bag and hesitated, eliciting a laugh from Darhk.

"Ah, so your green friend told you what would happen if you touched it," he surmised. "Well, I'm afraid that's what it will take to free the boy. Pick up the dagger."

Oliver hesitated again before reaching into the bag. A smile came over Darhk's face as Oliver looked him straight in the eye. As he slowly took the dagger out of the bag, Oliver saw Darhk's smile start to fade. When the dagger emerged from the bag in Oliver's hand with seemingly no effect on him, his face melted into a look of surprise and shock.

"Wha-"

Oliver smiled slightly and just said, "Yeah."

Before the guards could react, Oliver unsheathed the dagger and stabbed one of the guards in the stomach as an arrow came from behind the cage, impaling another. The sound of gunfire shot out through the basement as more of the guards were hit. Another guard attacked Oliver and he just flipped him over his back, knocking him out with a punch to the face. Looking around the basement, he saw that Darhk was making his way out, followed by four of his men. As Laurel, Thea, and John joined the fight, Oliver made his way over to the cage, dropping the bloody dagger on the ground and yelling orders at the others.

"Don't let him get away!"

Thea and John ran after Darhk, taking out guards along the way as Oliver ran back to the cage, finding a very scared William still in his crouched position, but with his hands covering his ears. Walking over to where he could reach him, Oliver touched the boy's shoulder, making him jump back and turn before seeing it was someone he could trust.

"It's ok," Oliver told him as he made his way back to the door of the cage to look at the lock. "It's over."

Laurel had stayed behind and had grabbed some keys off of one of the fallen guards. Seeing what she had, Oliver stepped aside, allowing her to unlock the cage and swing the door open. Oliver wasted no time in going into the cage and wrapping his son in his arms, holding him tightly. "I've got you," he said softly. "You're safe."

As he looked out from the cage, he gave Laurel an appreciative smile before focusing his attention back on the dagger. He didn't want to leave his son, but he knew what had to be done.

"William, this is Black Canary," he told him, as he indicated to Laurel. She gave him a warm smile as he looked up at her in awe. "She's going to keep you safe until we can get you home, ok?"

William just nodded as Oliver took his son's hand and placed it in Laurel's. She gave him a look of understanding as she pulled a spare comms out of her pocket and handed it to Oliver. Putting it in his ear, he walked out and picked up the dagger. With one last look at his son, he ran out of the basement. When they were gone, Laurel looked down at William and gave him a smile.

"Lets get you out of here," she told him as she began to lead him out.

"So... you're a superhero?" William asked her as they walked together. Laurel just smiled brighter as they made their way out. "Do you know the Flash?"

* * *

"Talk to me, Felicity!"

Felicity let out a sigh of relief when she heard Oliver's voice over the comms. "They've gone to the parking garage," she explained as she watched the fighting on her screen. "They could definitely use some help."

"Is Darhk there?" he asked, making his way up the stairs.

"All of the people who were in the server room went to the parking garage, so yes, he should be there."

"Good."

When Oliver burst through the stairwell door, the fight was in full force, with Thea and John taking on as many ghosts as they could. He could see Darhk standing behind them, heading for his black sedan. Running into the fight, he knew he wasn't going to let him get away this time.

As soon as he approached, one of the ghosts broke off and headed towards him. He easily blocked the punch aimed at him as he quickly returned the favor, knocking the ghost to the ground. His goal wasn't to make sure the ghosts stayed down though. He was just trying to get through. When another one attacked from the side, Oliver swung the dagger out, catching him on the arm as he gasped in pain. It wasn't a deep cut, but the contact alone was enough to make the ghost convulse as his veins started to expand. Walking away from him, Oliver made his way around, seeing Darhk climbing into the back of his car.

"Drive," Darhk commanded as the driver quickly backed up, running into Oliver and knocking him onto the trunk. Stabbing the dagger into the car, Oliver held on as the car started to move forward. John saw what was going on and stopped fighting the ghosts long enough to aim at the car, getting off a few shots before being tackled by another ghost. When he heard the car screech and run into a concrete pillar, he knew he had hit his mark. The sudden stopping of the car caused Oliver to slide from the car and roll onto the floor. He quickly got to his feet and ran back to the trunk, retrieving the dagger as Darhk made his way out. He was just about to attack Darhk when he felt his throat tighten, making it impossible for him to breathe. He looked over at Darhk in surprise as a smile came across the evil man's face.

"I could have sworn I told you to come alone," he spat as he brought his fingers closer together. "I do find it interesting though that your green friend isn't here with them. Or maybe… he is."

Oliver tried to fight the grip on his throat, but there was nothing for him to grab onto to get it to release. He couldn't fail now. Not when he was so close.

"I find it amusing that you could think I would be fooled by that doppelganger before," he informed him as he made his way to the driver's side door. "I'm not an idiot, you know."

When he saw Darhk open the driver's door, he knew he had to act fast. He wasn't going to let him get away this time. Ignoring the tightening of his throat, Oliver tossed the dagger into the air, catching it on it's blade before throwing it as hard as he could right at Darhk's chest. He felt the grip on his throat loosen as a look of surprise came across Darhk's face. Darhk waved his hand in front of him as he had done numerous times to deflect oncoming arrows, but this time, unlike before, the dagger did not divert from it's flight path and hit its mark, impaling Darhk right in the heart. When he felt the tightness on his throat disappear, Oliver slumped to the ground, coughing as he went. Once he caught his breath, he looked up and saw Darhk staring at the golden handle sticking out from his chest. With one last look to Oliver, he let out a gasp as his body fell slack and he breathed his last.

When Oliver heard the sounds of the fighting stop, he turned to see Thea and John looking at each other in surprise. All of the men they had been fighting were down. As he got up and walked over to them, he saw Thea just shrug.

"They just... stopped," she informed him as they looked down at the bodies. "As soon as Darhk was dead, they all just... dropped."

John walked over to one of the men who he had previously been fighting and checked for a pulse. "He's dead. They're all dead."

"Somehow Darhk must have been keeping them alive," Oliver surmised.

"I guess 'ghost' was a pretty good term for them then," John observed, looking at all of the bodies.

Oliver suddenly realized something as he looked at his friend in terror. "John..."

As if he knew what Oliver meant, John suddenly got very nervous. "Andy!"

"Guys?" Felicity's voice came over the comms with a sound of panic. "What just happened? Cuz Andy's not looking too good here."

"Go!" Oliver told him as John ran to the waiting van. He just hoped that he was wrong.

Back in the liar, Felicity was trying to help Andy as much as she could. When he gripped his chest and slumped back in his chair, she wasn't sure what she should do. Doing a quick check of his pulse, she felt panic set in as she had a hard time finding it. When he slumped down to the ground, she quickly made her way to the medical bay, pulling out the drawers, looking for something specific. When she found a large syringe encased in plastic, she ripped the wrapping off before wheeling back to Andy.

Locking the wheels of her chair, she pushed herself off and landed with a thud next to him. Moving closer, she felt for his sternum, finding the right place, before taking the cap off of the large needle and placing it above his heart. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she pushed the needle in and pushed down the plunger before quickly pulling the needle out. Within a few seconds, Andy jerked and gasped for air as his eyes opened wide and his body tensed. When he finally started to relax, he collapsed back down on the ground, breathing deeply. Felicity checked his pulse again, this time breathing a sigh of relief as she patted his chest.

"You're alright," she said softly. "You're alright."


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: So, in case you didn't notice, I've added another chapter to this story. This particular one was re-written so many times and had so much in it, I decided to break it into 2 chapters. This one is more heavy and the last one is more fluff. Good to go out on fluff!**_

 _ **I know that there has been a lot of speculation about how Felicity will handle finding out Oliver's big secret. I don't like how the show handled it in the first timeline in the Flarrow crossover. If Felicity broke up with him, he'd never fight for her since he feels like he doesn't deserve her anyway. Felicity knows this so I think she'd be more careful about what she'd say, especially if she wants to salvage their relationship. This chapter was re-written so many times because I wanted that to come through. He needs to gain her trust again and if you love someone, you'd give them a chance.**_

Chapter 7

Oliver pressed the end call button on his phone and put it back into his pocket as he leaned against the wall. He had brought William back to his condo to wait for Samantha and Felicity had been there to meet them. When he introduced William to Felicity, William had looked very nervous, but when Felicity had suggested playing a video game, he seemed to open up. Oliver was just watching them now, happy that they seemed to get along so well. He always knew Felicity would welcome his son. It was just nice to see it.

When Felicity left William on the couch to get him a snack, she didn't notice how he watched her leave with a smile on his face, but Oliver did. He knew that look well. He had it himself when he was a boy when he had a crush on one of his teachers. Trying to hold in his laughter, he walked over and sat next to his son, causing him to suddenly jerk his attention back from Felicity.

"Your mom called," he told him as he settled into the couch. "Her train got in a few minutes ago. She should be here soon."

"Ok," William replied, looking back down at the tablet.

Oliver hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to him after everything that had happened. Laurel had brought William to Oliver's car and he had met them there. He noticed how quiet his son was on the way to the condo, but he knew he was probably still a bit overwhelmed.

"How are you doing?" he asked, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

William just shrugged as he continued to focus on the game. Oliver knew he shouldn't push it so he decided to go a different route.

"So, what do you think of Felicity?" he asked, causing William to pause playing his game.

"She's… nice," William replied.

Oliver nodded as he smiled, stealing a glance over at her in the kitchen. "Yes, she is." Felicity caught his gaze and smiled as she put the glass of milk and sandwich on a tray and put it on her lap before wheeling back over to them.

"You weren't talking about me, were you?" she teased. "I don't like it when people talk behind my back."

"No!" William said quickly, jumping slightly as he put the tablet down.

Oliver laughed a little as he rubbed William's shoulder to help calm him down. "We were only saying good things."

"Oh?" Felicity asked, handing the food to William. "Like what?"

A knock on the door prevented Oliver from elaborating as he got up and left a somewhat nervous William talking to Felicity. Oliver just shook his head before opening the door, greeting John and Andy. Based on what John and Felicity had told him about what had happened to Andy, he was surprised to see him even standing, let alone walking through his door.

"How are you feeling?" Oliver asked, reaching out to shake Andy's hand.

"Better," Andy told him with a nod.

"I tried to get him to go to the hospital," John explained, "but apparently he's just as stubborn as you are."

"Do we even know what happened?" Oliver asked, making sure their conversation was quiet enough that William couldn't hear.

Both of the men shook their heads as John looked over to Felicity. "Felicity probably saved his life," John told him. "The other ghosts seem to just have their hearts stop. Since no one tried to start them up again, they just… died. Felicity's quick thinking with the adrenaline got his heart going again and once it was going, it kept going."

Oliver just shook his head. "I guess we'll never know how he did it."

"I don't really want to know," Andy revealed. "I'm just glad to be free of him."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Oliver asked.

"I have to finish up a few things with A.R.G.U.S., but they said since Darhk was gone and my cover is kind of blown, they're going to let me go home."

"Andy, that's great!" Oliver agreed with a bright smile. "I'm sure Carly and AJ will be thrilled to see you."

"I hope so," he said sadly. "I had to keep so many secrets from them. I just hope they can forgive me."

Oliver nodded in understanding as he turned to look over at Felicity. She had been so great during the crisis, but he knew she was still upset about him keeping William a secret from her. Once this was over, he knew they had to talk as well.

"I was able to pass your request to Waller," Andy told him. "She agreed. I'll handle the transfer as my last official act with them."

Oliver let out a sigh as he pushed his hands into his pockets. He knew favors from Waller usually came with a price, but for the safety of his son, he would do anything.

"She's still not happy you aren't giving them the dagger though."

"Because they took such good care of it last time," John added sarcastically.

Oliver just shook his head. "I think John Constantine can handle it much better than A.R.G.U.S."

Another knock sounded at the door, this one more frantic than the last. Oliver knew it must be Samantha as he quickly opened the door. When he saw her concerned face, he just moved aside and let her in as she saw her son sitting on the couch.

"William!"

When William heard his name, a smile broke over his face as he got up and ran to his mother, falling into her waiting arms as she crouched down to his level.

"Are you ok?" she asked him, smoothing out his hair. "Did they hurt you?"

William shook his head as Samantha pulled him back to look him over. "I met Black Canary," he told her with a smile. "She knows the Flash!"

"Really?" Samantha asked, looking questioningly up at Oliver.

"Uh huh. She was cool!"

Samantha smiled as she ran her hand over her son's head. Giving him a kiss on the forehead, she stood up and addressed Oliver, her happy expression gone from her face. "Thank you for finding him."

Oliver could feel the coldness in her gratitude. He was sure she would blame him for this somehow and he knew she would be right. Just being his son made William a target and he had to make sure both he and his mother were safe.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Oliver could tell she didn't want to let go of William, but they needed to talk in private. "Felicity can watch him."

Hearing her name, Felicity wheeled over and offered her hand. "Felicity Smoak."

Samantha smiled hesitantly before shaking her hand. "Samantha Clayton."

"It's nice to meet you," Felicity said with honesty. "You have quite a brave boy."

Looking down at her son, Samantha gave him a smile before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and giving him a light hug. "I'll just be over here," she told him, indicating to the kitchen.

"Ok," William replied before pulling away from his mother and going back to where the tablet still sat. Felicity smiled before going back over to join him in the video game.

Seeing that her son was happy, she looked over at Oliver and sighed before turning and quickly walking into the kitchen. Oliver followed her and was greeted by a very angry mother.

"What happened?" she asked harshly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Someone who had issues with me running for mayor tried to use him to get to me," he explained.

"And how did he find out he was your son?!" she spat, keeping her voice down. "Who did you tell?!"

"I didn't tell anyone!" he countered. "He must have found out on his own."

"That's not possible," she told him. "Your name isn't even on his birth certificate. There's no way he could have found out without someone telling him."

"Samantha, I didn't even tell Felicity until I had to. Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep that from her? Why would I tell anyone else?"

"You know we were just fine before you came into our lives!" she spat. "You should have just stayed away!" Samantha sighed as she ran her hands through her hair. "This is my fault. I should have never let you see him. You were probably followed and that's how he found out. I should have never let you see him."

Oliver just looked at her in shock. "He's my son."

"No, he's MY son!" she yelled back before realizing how loud she had gotten. "I kept him safe for 9 years," she said more quietly this time. "You're in his life for 6 months and he's already in danger."

Oliver let out a sigh as he leaned against the counter. "I know."

Samantha was surprised as his admission as she looked at him in confusion. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

Oliver sighed as he looked back up at her. "He's not out of danger yet," he explained. "The man who took him works for a bigger organization. I don't know how much they're involved with what's going on in Star City or if they'll do anything else against me. Until they're taken care of, you and William aren't safe."

Samantha sighed as she leaned against a counter. He could tell she wasn't happy about this and he couldn't blame her. He knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to suggest.

"I know some people," he began. "They can take care of you… give you new identities…"

The look on Samantha's face was pure disbelief. "You 'know people'? Oliver, do you have any idea what that sounds like?"

Oliver nodded as he too leaned against a counter. "They can keep you and William safe."

"I can keep my son safe on my own," she countered. "All you have to do is stay away from him."

"I haven't even seen him in the past few months!" Oliver reminded her. "They still got to him!"

"I can't just disappear, Oliver. I have a life in Central City. William has a life. We can't just abandon everything because of you."

"Samantha, these people are dangerous," Oliver told her, getting closer to emphasize his point. "Please… You have to let me help you."

"You know I knew something like this would happen if you ever found out!" she countered, crossing her arms in front of her. "Someone would find out and he would be in danger just because his father is Oliver Queen!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Oliver asked, getting angry himself. "My life… is crazy. It's dangerous and people around me get hurt. Do you think I wanted that for him?"

Samantha softened a little, remembering what had happened to his fiancé just a few weeks ago. "Of course not."

"I didn't want anyone to find out about him. I knew it would be dangerous if anyone found out, but I just couldn't stay away. He's my son. I… I wanted to be part of his life. It was selfish and I'm sorry."

Samantha didn't know what to say. She knew he wouldn't put William's life in danger, but to have to run and hide… That was asking a lot. Looking out in the living room, she could see how happy William was. The last 24 hours had been so brutal, not knowing where he was or if he was safe. She couldn't change who his father was, but she could keep him from more danger, even if that meant getting help from Oliver.

"If we… disappear," she began, feeling less hesitant than she would have thought, "you won't be able to see him again. If they followed you last time…"

"I know," Oliver interrupted. "I'll stay away."

Samantha nodded as she started to relax. It was a good plan. She hated leaving her life in Central City, but she wanted her son safe.

"There is one other thing," Oliver started as he took a deep breath. "I don't know if you were ever planning on telling him about me, but… you can't. He can't know I'm his father."

"Why?" Samantha hadn't planned on telling him, but Oliver's request seemed strange, considering what he had just said.

"If he accidentally slips and tells someone, we'd be right back to where we are now." Oliver shook his head sadly. "He can't know."

Samantha considered him for a moment before slowly nodding. Pushing himself off the counter, Oliver made his way back out to the living room as Samantha followed. Looking over to Andy, he got his attention as the younger Diggle approached.

"This is Andy Diggle," he explained. "He helped us get William back and will take you both someplace safe."

Samantha nodded with a slight smile in acknowledgement of Andy, but that was all. The whole situation was crazy, but she would do anything to protect her son.

"William, it's time to go," Samantha called out, eliciting a groan from the boy.

"But Mom, I'm in the middle of a game," William whined without looking up.

"William…"

Letting out a dejected sigh, William handed the tablet back to Felicity and got up, slowly walking over to his mother with his head down. Samantha leaned down to kiss the top of her son's head before turning back to Oliver. "Good-bye, Oliver."

Oliver just nodded as he looked down at his son one more time. "Be good for your mom," he instructed.

William nodded sadly before allowing Samantha to turn him by the shoulders and point him towards the door. Andy followed Samantha and William out, leaving John to face his friend. He didn't really know what to say so he just reached out and squeezed Oliver's shoulder in support before giving him an understanding smile and then turning to go. As the door closed behind them, Oliver slumped down on the back of the couch, letting out a long sigh.

"Are you ok?" she asked, reaching up to take his hand.

"Not really," he said sadly, looking down at her compassionate eyes. "Thank you for everything you did today. I know it couldn't have been easy."

"We had to get him back," Felicity explained. "That was all that mattered."

With a gentle squeeze of his hand, Felicity released it and rolled over to gather up the dishes from William's snack. Oliver watched her for a moment before finally broaching the topic he was hesitant to start.

"Are we… ok?" he asked as she rolled into the kitchen.

The silence from her was almost deafening as he slowly walked over to where she was working. He watched as she slowly placed the plate and glass on the counter and then just sat there, not turning around. "Felicity?"

Felicity took a deep breath before turning around and looking up at him. She knew she had to be careful what she said. She was upset about him keeping a secret like this from her, but she also knew what he was like when he was cornered. She knew that he didn't think he deserved her and this would just be one more reason for him to push her away. It wasn't time for pushing away or backing out. If they were to have a life together, they'd have to work this out. She was the one who had said the point of marriage was to get through the hard times because they were together not in spite of it. This seemed to be the definition of a 'hard time'.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" she asked carefully.

His response was immediate. "Yes."

"When?" she asked, trying to keep her cool, but feeling more of the anger coming to the surface. "After we got married? Were you just going to come up to me and say, 'Hey guess what? You have a step-son and he's 9 years old.'?"

She could tell her comment had hurt him when he visibly shrank back and didn't say anything.

"The fact of the matter is," she told him, trying not to sound bitter, "is that you didn't trust me with this."

"Felicity, I wanted to," he explained. "There were so many times I almost told you."

"But you didn't," she completed. "You still kept this from me and it was a… madman who forced your hand."

"I know," he acknowledged. "And I'm sorry."

"Unfortunately," she sighed as she wheeled past him and back into the main room, "this time, sorry isn't enough."

Oliver just nodded as he watched her move away from him. When she stopped and turned back to face him, he could see the pain in her eyes.

"Oliver, I love you so much that sometimes it actually hurts," she told him as her emotions started to get the better of her. "It hurts that someone I love so deeply would keep something like this from me. It hurts because I'm not sure how someone could love me as much as I love him and keep something like this from me and I just have to wonder how much… if they… even love me…"

"Felicity…" Before she could even finish her sentence, he had crossed the room and taken her face in his hands, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers in a love filled kiss. He felt her hand come up to his face as he kissed her, trying to make her feel his love in the embrace. When he finally pulled back, he looked into her eyes. "Don't ever think that I don't love you."

A small smile came across her face as she gently rubbed her thumb across his cheek. "Then you need to trust me."

"I trust you with my life."

"I'm going to need more than that," she told him, causing him to pull back a little and look at her confused. "There can't be any secrets between us anymore."

"I swear, there's nothing else."

"Yes, there is." Pulling back from him, she maneuvered her way over to the couch as he just watched her in confusion. When she saw him just standing there watching her, she indicated that he should come over as well. Locking her wheels in place, she did something he didn't expect and reached her arms up to him.

"On the couch, please," she instructed.

She had never asked for help getting onto the couch before, so having her do it now meant something big. Reaching down to her, he pulled her into his arms before sitting on the couch with her still cradled on his lap. Leaning her back on the arm of the couch, Felicity wrapped one arm around his back and took his hand in the other.

"I need you to trust me," she told him as she gently squeezed his hand.

"Ok…"

"And this isn't going to be easy for you."

"If it's you asking, I'll do it."

Felicity gave him a small smile before taking a deep breath. "You've been keeping secrets from me since the day we met. Until there are no secrets between us, I can't trust that you won't keep something from me again. It's too easy for you to slip back into that if you still are keeping things from me. I need you to trust me enough to tell me everything, no matter how painful or how you might think I'd take it. I need you to trust me with it all."

Felicity could feel him tense up. She knew he understood what she was asking of him and she knew he didn't like talking about it. He purposely kept certain things about him to himself. Even though they had been together for so many months and he'd told her more about his time away than anyone, he still had not told her everything. He was scared that if she knew everything, she would see him differently.

"Felicity…"

"Oliver," she interrupted, reaching up to gently scratch the back of his neck, "you need to trust me. You need to trust that whatever you tell me won't change how I feel about you."

"It might," he admitted. "I was… a different person."

"I was different eight years ago too," she told him. "Everyone changes, Oliver, but our past is part of who we are. We can't change it. If we're going to be together for the rest of our lives, we need to know what we're getting into. Our past shapes the person we are today and will shape the person we will be tomorrow. It's not good. It's not bad. It's just who we are."

Oliver sighed and pulled her close, resting his head on her chest as she gently stroked the back of his head. "I can't lose you."

"You won't," she said confidently. "Nothing you tell me would make me stop loving you. Only secrets will push me away."

Oliver nodded slowly before he felt Felicity softly kiss the top of his head. "And when you're done… I'll tell you everything about me."

Oliver pulled back and looked at her in confusion as she gave him a small smile. "What, you don't seriously think you know everything about my past, do you?"

Oliver thought about it for a moment before giving a small shrug. "I guess I never really thought about it."

"Well, it may not be as exciting as yours," she told him, holding him to her chest again, "but you still don't know everything. I don't want there to be any secrets between us. That goes both ways."

Wrapping his arms around her, he sunk farther into her embrace as he let out a sigh. "Never again," he said softly. "No matter what, I'll never keep anything from you again."

"Good," she said with a smile, "because I hate surprises. They never end well."

Oliver laughed lightly as he pulled back and looked at her smiling face. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she replied, reaching up to gently touch his face.

With a gentle kiss to his lips and a thumb across his cheek, Felicity wrapped her arms around him again and settled back as he cleared his throat.

"This might take a while," he admitted.

"I'm not going anywhere."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Curtis!" Felicity yelled as the elevator doors opened. She had received an urgent message from him and had gone down as soon has her meeting was over. She was hoping he had some news on their "ground breaking tech" front.

"Over here, Felicity," he called as she wheeled around the lab. When she found him sitting at his workbench with a big smile on his face, she paused.

"Tell me you have something," she ordered.

"I think I have something," he responded as she wheeled over to him. "I don't know why I didn't think about this before. I mean, the application of it sounds so simple, but…"

"Curtis!" she interrupted, realizing now how it must sound when she babbles. "Please get to the point."

"Nano-tech."

"Nano-tech?" she echoed. "Like Ray's nano-tech?"

"Exactly like Ray's… Mr. Palmer's… nano-tech." Reaching to the side of his workbench, Curtis picked up the prototype device that he had shown to Felicity earlier. She still cringed when she saw it. Big metal spider.

"This was very clunky," he explained. "It required lots of power and surgery to implant. Even if we separated the legs like you suggested, there would still be something that connected to the controller. I wanted to get people out of their wheelchairs, but not at the expense of having to carry around a brick."

"Not ideal," Felicity agreed.

"So, before Mr. Palmer left… Where did he go again?"

"Doesn't matter." The last thing Felicity needed to do was explain time travel to Curtis.

"Oh. Well, before he left, he gave me access to his nano-tech schematics. It was really quite genius how they worked."

"I know," she revealed, much to the surprise of Curtis. "I had to use them once."

"Really?" Curtis asked curiously.

"Well, not on me," she corrected. "On Ray. He had a blood clot. They busted it up."

"Interesting," Curtis remarked. "I didn't know they were allowed to be used on humans yet."

"Yeah, they weren't," Felicity cringed.

"Ah. Well, Mr. Palmer had started the process to get a clinical trial going for them, but it hadn't been completed yet… until now."

Curtis handed an envelope to Felicity who quickly opened it and read the contents. "It says we can start clinical trials now! Do you mean the nanites can fix my back?!"

"Well… no," Curtis admitted. "They can't create new tissue and that's what's needed to permanently fix your spine."

"Oh." Felicity couldn't help but be disappointed, but she knew Curtis had to have another idea. Why else would he have called her down?

"So, these things can be used to destroy foreign objects or blocks… like the blood clot in Mr. Palmer, but they can't build things," he explained. "And they only last a few hours before they get absorbed into the body. So, they can't be a permanent solution, but they might be able to be a temporary one."

"How do you mean?" she asked, starting to get a little anxious again.

Picking up the spider device again, he started to explain. "This was going to act as a bridge across the severed spine," he reminded her. "Well, what if instead of using this… we use the nanites."

"Use the nanites to bridge the gap?"

"In a way. The nanites would be a substitute for the legs of the prototype device. They would do the actual bridging, but this-" Curtis picked up a smaller, flatter device than the prototype, but still about the same size as the older device. "-This would control them, tell them where to go. It could even be designed to resupply them through the skin." Curtis pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and the schematic for the device came up on the screen. An animation of an electric field displayed around it. "It would also supply a low-level electric field that could sustain the nanites for longer than their current lifespan. Right now the nanites barely last an hour. This device would be able to extend that for much longer."

"How much longer?" she asked, eyeing the computer screen.

"As long as it can stay charged itself," he revealed. "Currently about 5 hours. After that time, the external device needs to be recharged. Without power the nanites would dissolve and would have to be replaced. It's all still hypothetical though. Now that the approval for clinical trials for the nanites has gone through, I should be able to make quicker progress."

Felicity looked at the device in his hand and the schematics of the nanites on the screen. "I want to volunteer."

Curtis looked at her in surprise. "Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean… you're the CEO of the company."

"Which means I can decide who tries it out first," she explained.

Curtis sighed as he looked at his boss. "Felicity, this only bridges the gap for the nerves. You've been unable to move for months. By this point, your muscles have most likely atrophied. There's no guarantee that it will work. We would probably have more success on someone who has recently been injured."

Felicity looked down at her legs as she ran a hand across them. They were definitely missing some of the muscle tone that they used to have. She couldn't believe she had come so close only to be told she was too late.

"Please, Curtis," Felicity said, looking back up at him. "I have to try."

Letting out a deep sigh, Curtis shook his head. "I just don't want you to be disappointed."

"I understand." Felicity just stared as she watched a simulation on the screen. The nanites lined up and attached themselves to the drawing of the spine as electrical signals travelled across them. She could only hope that it would work for her.

* * *

6 months later

Oliver had never been so nervous in his life. Fidgeting with the cuffs on his tuxedo, he tried to calm his nerves. He never thought he'd get to this particular day.

Once the mayoral election was over, Felicity had decided that it was time to start planning their wedding. Neither Oliver nor Felicity wanted to wait too long. With Oliver's new schedule as mayor and Felicity's busy schedule as Palmer Tech CEO, they had a hard time finding a date when they both weren't busy. They either had to get married soon or end up waiting for over a year. Neither one of them wanted to wait so Thea took it upon herself to make sure that they could get married as soon as their schedules allowed for it and that day was today.

Both of them knew that the wedding of the mayor was going to be a big event so Thea managed to secure the fanciest country club in town for the event. All she had to do was mention that it was going to be the event of the year and the owner did everything he could to make it happen. Thea used her contacts to get a custom designed gown for Felicity, even in such a short timeframe. Everything down to the caterers and band for the reception had been handled by Thea. She was the best wedding planner they could have asked for.

Now the day was here and Oliver was waiting in the country club's beautiful garden. If he had his way, they would have just had a small ceremony with just their closest friends and family, but he understood that as mayor he had some responsibilities, especially to his biggest campaign supporters. Then there were the people from Palmer Tech who Felicity felt compelled to invite. Sometimes he wished they had just gone down the hall from his new office to the Justice of the Peace and gotten married there. At least it wouldn't have been such a production.

"If you keep tugging on that, you're going to pull them off." Laurel gave him a warm smile as she reached over to brush his arm. "You're acting like you've never worn a tuxedo before."

Oliver smiled nervously as he twitched his index finger and thumb together. "Not to my own wedding," he reminded her.

"It'll be fine," Laurel reassured him. "As soon as you see her, you'll relax."

Pulling his arm up to check his watch, he sighed before letting it back down. He never knew time could move so slowly.

A strong slap on his back brought his attention to Quentin as Oliver turned to see him in his full dress uniform. Holding out his hand, he gave Oliver a smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Mayor."

"Thank you, Chief," Oliver replied, shaking his hand and putting emphasis on the last word.

Quentin let out a slight huff. "Who would have thought we'd be here?" he asked. "Police Chief and Mayor."

Oliver just shook his head. "Not me, that's for sure."

After a quick kiss on the cheek to Oliver, Laurel took her father's arm and let him escort her to her seat as Oliver began to fidget again. With one more check of his watch, he took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. His heart hadn't beat this fast in years.

"Mr. Queen." Oliver turned to see the judge who was presiding the ceremony standing behind him. "It's time."

Oliver took one more deep breath before following the judge to the front of the seats, taking his place in front of a beautifully decorated archway. As the simple music from the string quartet began to play, he turned his eyes to the exit of the country club's main building. She would be coming through there any time.

Looking down at the path she had to traverse, he frowned slightly, hoping her wheelchair wouldn't have too many problems handling the not-so-smooth path. He had tried to convince her to have the wedding indoors, but Felicity had insisted that it be in the garden. He wasn't about to argue with her. He learned early on in the process that it's better not to try to argue with the bride… or the wedding planner.

As the doors from the building opened, he felt his heart skip again. _This is it_ , he thought.

Everyone gathered turned as Thea began walking down the path towards her brother with a huge smile on her face. It was hard for her to keep her emotions in check, but for Oliver and Felicity, she would. When she met with her brother, she reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking over to take her place. He knew that John and Felicity were next, especially when the music changed.

As the gathered guests rose, he nervously pulled at his cuffs as he tried to keep calm. When he saw John appear in the doorway, he frowned slightly. He was supposed to be pushing Felicity, but he was instead looking to his right. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he was holding onto someone's right arm with a solid grip and his left was around their back. It wasn't until he saw his bride that the breath left his chest. She was... standing!

All of the guests let out a gasp as not only was she standing, holding heavily on to John, but actually walking out of the building. It wasn't fast and it wasn't by any stretch of the imagination as graceful as she wanted to be, but slowly, she was putting one foot in front of the other and making her way down the path.

Oliver quickly looked at Thea in surprise who just gave him a knowing smile. Turning back to his fiancé, he finally looked at her face, seeing the biggest smile he had ever seen on her. He could tell she was struggling, but her face wasn't showing anything except happiness. All she could do was smile as she walked towards him.

Oliver knew he was supposed to wait for her, but when she stumbled slightly at an uneven part of the path, he ran to her side, grabbing her other arm.

"You aren't supposed to be here," she told him, her emotions clear in her voice. "I'm suppose to walk to you."

"How…" Oliver was finding it difficult to even form words as he held onto her tightly.

Felicity just smiled bigger as she said, "Surprise!"

Oliver sighed as he felt tears start to well up. "You hate surprises."

"Not when I'm doing them," she countered. "The look on your face is priceless."

Oliver still didn't know how it was possible, but none of that seemed to matter, not while he was holding the woman he loved in his arms.

"Now go back," she instructed, pushing on him slightly. "I'm trying to make an entrance here!"

Oliver was reluctant to let her go, but she kept pushing on him, trying to get him to go back and wait for her. Getting a quick look of confirmation from John, Oliver slowly backed away, holding onto her hand until the very last moment. He never took his eyes off her as he walked backwards, anxiously waiting to hold her again.

When they finally made it to him, he took a step forward and took Felicity's arm from John as she leaned on him heavily. Even though she was walking, he could tell that it was a struggle for her. All he wanted to do was gather her up in his arms to make her struggle go away, but he could tell that this was important to her. As he wrapped his arm around her waist for more support, he felt something metallic at her back. Looking at it curiously, he soon directed his attention back to his beautiful bride's face.

"How is this even possible?" he asked as she tightly gripped his arm.

"Curtis," she replied simply. "Well, and Ray's nanotech. It's not permanent and my legs aren't being very cooperative, but at least I got to walk down the aisle to you."

"It's amazing," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. Then looking back at his fiancé, he smiled even more. "You're amazing."

Felicity gripped his arm more tightly, not because she needed the support, but just because she couldn't believe they were finally there. As the ceremony continued, they said their vows, exchanged their rings, and gave each other a kiss that was probably not appropriate for young eyes. After the judge introduced them as husband and wife, Oliver leaned down and swept her up into his arms, placing another kiss on her lips before carrying her back down the pathway. He knew she could walk down with him, but he wanted to get started on their life together as fast as possible. This was just a quicker way.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry if the wedding was a bit short, but I'm not great at writing tooth-rotting fluff. Besides, the way I figure it, the ceremony is probably the last thing they'll remember about the day.**

 **Thanks to everyone who read this! It felt good to be writing again after being away for a decade or so. This story idea really came from wanting to know what was up with that dagger that Darhk has and how it could come into play with the season. I know the rest of it seemed quick, but I wanted to get it done before the mid-season premiere. And I wanted to show a side of Felicity that is more understanding than what they had in 4x08 (hated that). Plus, I am very rusty at writing. The fact that this made it to 8 chapters amazed me.**

 **Happy Arrow Day!**


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